tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72520312010997214372024-03-27T23:24:41.453-07:00Ted's SalmagundiA Palatable Potpourri of Posts by Ted Salmon テッドTed's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.comBlogger612125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-67810556219355297722024-03-24T14:05:00.000-07:002024-03-24T14:05:44.975-07:00Cold Meat (2023)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYLYWYTt0mmIXBC6RCToyZ_94TSBI9Ek7GIzNt9rTH42bnQYv6YHZhRDkNMZXZFJPXcjT23pFqAPOYbnIpq_Xy9gzApOF6-kQhpLaJYEAIZHcajkabHfPGJangNRGgWKZP9zVkyfBV6ld2wyAPO7QKLL-Xaj_LkJI3Zd6AhgNOdPPD9wJXBV5ogcSJrr8/s966/Screenshot%202024-03-24%20210212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="966" data-original-width="794" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYLYWYTt0mmIXBC6RCToyZ_94TSBI9Ek7GIzNt9rTH42bnQYv6YHZhRDkNMZXZFJPXcjT23pFqAPOYbnIpq_Xy9gzApOF6-kQhpLaJYEAIZHcajkabHfPGJangNRGgWKZP9zVkyfBV6ld2wyAPO7QKLL-Xaj_LkJI3Zd6AhgNOdPPD9wJXBV5ogcSJrr8/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-24%20210212.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>This 2023 from French writer/director Sébastien Drouin starts out as we join David leaving home, getting on the road to go somewhere in his car. It's cold, snowy, icy, apparently in the Colorado Rockies. He stops off at a diner for some food and a drink and becomes witness to an incident between the diner's waitress, Ana, and her violent ex-husband, Vincent, who turns up drunk.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">David, played by </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Allen Leech (The Imitation Game, Bohemian Rhapsody), uses a calm rationale appealing to Vincent, played by </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yan Tual (Rifkin's Festival),</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> to cease his violence towards Ana, played by </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nina Bergman (Hell Hath No Fury). This seems to work. Vincent calms down enough to realise that he should leave, but actually wants revenge against David for interfering by now and lies in wait outside. When David leaves, Vincent pursues him in his truck.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">David seems to lose him in the blizzard as they chase down country lanes, at breakneck speeds, risking both of their lives. David gives him the slip, but in doing so, crashes into a mound of snow and can't get his car out. The usual thing - no phone signal coverage, no drinks, running out of petrol/battery, doesn't know where he is by now - the set up for a bit of a survival situation.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To make matters worse, he trips over outside of the car, whilst trying to work out where his is and how he can get help, and breaks his tibia. With some twists and turns along the way, there's what appears to be a human hand grappling at the windscreen and something heavy on the car's roof. Is it a bear? Is it human? Is it Vincent? Or perhaps something supernatural? Well David can't move, trapped in more ways than one - and to tell you any more would really spoil the plot!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The film is fairly low-budget with a small cast, but it's a real cracker because of a twisty turn or two, the chilling environment, in more ways than one, claustrophobic camerawork, the excellent acting from the small cast and the often suspenseful situation inside the car. It's well scripted and keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat, as David is on his! In some ways it's quite a simple idea, but it's executed really well and certainly worth a look.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-38743638556739845172024-03-19T15:00:00.000-07:002024-03-19T15:00:36.930-07:00Chained (2012)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvkFINZxgM7LgkUTYBQirOed3C1JHeYNx5PGkTBwU66YgSpb2iF9wVCrNEZtnFfh9rhPv5Kn6olnYolsvopbgjMeUviqPEdsKzNGhABldx36nojjK5tU5b5nL-Ps9hXb4qI05HqE2s-e5jzU1WEerr-DUfHG4QGe3Y3EIMGLCJvTFB8Vxnt1AY1RVblI6/s1076/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20215543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="866" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvkFINZxgM7LgkUTYBQirOed3C1JHeYNx5PGkTBwU66YgSpb2iF9wVCrNEZtnFfh9rhPv5Kn6olnYolsvopbgjMeUviqPEdsKzNGhABldx36nojjK5tU5b5nL-Ps9hXb4qI05HqE2s-e5jzU1WEerr-DUfHG4QGe3Y3EIMGLCJvTFB8Vxnt1AY1RVblI6/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20215543.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>Time for a horrific thriller/chiller again and one I missed from some years back by director Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena), daughter of David. It's a brutal, nasty film which depicts the screwed up life of Bob the taxi driver, who, abused by his father in childhood, takes out his revenge on randomly selected women he picks up and traps in his taxi. Strap in!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">He takes the women to his house, does unspeakable things to them, kills them and buries their bodies neatly in rows under the house. We join the tale as a woman, played by Julia Ormond (<a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2019/02/smillas-sense-of-snow.html" target="_blank">Smilla's Sense of Snow</a>, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2019/11/gold-digger.html" target="_blank">Gold Digger</a>), is the next victim but also has her son with her, thus making a departure from Bob's usual MO.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In a strange turn of events, having killed the boy's mother, Bob decides to lock up the 9 year-old boy (who he dubs Rabbit) as his slave in the house, doing all his housework, mopping up after his grizzly crimes and generally waiting on Bob hand and foot. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Over time, Bob starts to warm to the boy, educates him, talks about his future positively - in and amongst Rabbit witnessing what Bob is doing to these females. We leap in time some years and Rabbit is an older teenager, Bob is slowing down, and it looks like he's grooming Rabbit to take over his 'work'.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's deeply disturbing as an story idea. I couldn't quite work out why I was sticking with it really because at some stages it becomes slow and most odd, to say the least. Very Lynch family, I guess. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Vincent D'Onofrio (Men in Black, Dying Young) plays Bob with apparent chilling ease and the older Rabbit played by Eamon Farren (The Dig, Winchester) matches him as the oddball victim.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's not really a film to enjoy, rather stare open-mouthed at what's being depicted and what's going on between these screwed-up characters. Having said that, much of the violence is conducted behind closed doors away from the camera, making use of suspense and suggestion. I guess it is a horror film really but not in any traditional 'dracula' kind of way - more nasty, dark and sinister. It can't be denied that it's interesting though and for those fans of the Lynch family's work, compelling.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-21890259264469709952024-03-19T14:27:00.000-07:002024-03-20T03:53:51.693-07:00Damsel (2024)<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeyLIrmKq8DHo5KgbhQu2Gw1d5bMVqkvgGH3sanXHcaCw6YpJ3CY0wrNnpIdee8666upft6knJ-MG8fOlNnbh4pKMfw5sY0MHAcGxR4BMNwFe8A8OA6q5Yg9Qn-sMscLi7iRG9AvFhBJSQrIfjALxsM_WR5HyhGXSyduPqzvKcqEZWBLJAp4ddMT0XHTY/s719/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20212636.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="571" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeyLIrmKq8DHo5KgbhQu2Gw1d5bMVqkvgGH3sanXHcaCw6YpJ3CY0wrNnpIdee8666upft6knJ-MG8fOlNnbh4pKMfw5sY0MHAcGxR4BMNwFe8A8OA6q5Yg9Qn-sMscLi7iRG9AvFhBJSQrIfjALxsM_WR5HyhGXSyduPqzvKcqEZWBLJAp4ddMT0XHTY/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20212636.jpg" width="254" /></a></div>Not quite sure why I watched this Disney-style dark fantasy, fire-breathing dragon, prince/princess kingdom type film - but I did! And I was willing to give it up as a daft kid's romp, but I really rather enjoyed it and surprised myself by sticking around until the end.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Millie Bobby Brown in the lead was most engaging, Ray Winstone was, well, Ray Winstone, and a great time was had by all as one kingdom's family is duped by another. One needing money for their crumbling empire, the other needing a bride to feed to the dragon who needed appeasing for some dubious prior debt. Though of course Kingdom 2 doesn't reveal that part of the deal until later!</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It then becomes a survival adventure as the goodies try to escape the beast whilst teaching the baddies a lesson or two and Princess Elodie turns into Lara Croft!</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Very nicely animated, often quite dark, elements of mystery, feel-good and revenge, but the main attraction is certainly the adventure. You might like it! The family certainly will.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-8753896999414895212024-03-19T14:07:00.000-07:002024-03-19T14:07:06.092-07:00The Zone of Interest (2023)<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtm7D7tQR-H1QOqLGbcLjUrM-5ibxKvLP14Zw1W8__O2CuSq2zXRj51ov0pP3s0ekoz18QIqoXRRqW2u6aknJ3cIcVdj098aEHiv4wXht4KP4qHvElIImAKq817Hd_wwi3MFdtinashRgnFd6Bw9zEHRd-Kq5sVxuCFfTmfFrQ7RIb0FWESq0VSvSU7qjd/s800/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20205719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtm7D7tQR-H1QOqLGbcLjUrM-5ibxKvLP14Zw1W8__O2CuSq2zXRj51ov0pP3s0ekoz18QIqoXRRqW2u6aknJ3cIcVdj098aEHiv4wXht4KP4qHvElIImAKq817Hd_wwi3MFdtinashRgnFd6Bw9zEHRd-Kq5sVxuCFfTmfFrQ7RIb0FWESq0VSvSU7qjd/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-19%20205719.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The Zone of Interest is a snapshot of the life and crimes during World War II of </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rudolf Höss, who was in charge of the Auschwitz concentration camp within German-occupied Poland. He commanded the camp for the longest time and we join his reign during 1943 when Hitler and his seniors had considered him to be hugely successful in furthering the aims of the war by his actions there against the Jewish people.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The film focuses mostly, however, on </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Höss the family man, married to Hedwig, living with their 5 children just outside the walls of the camp. So well considered was he that the family wanted for nothing and lived a life of plenty, in a house specially built for them. The film is presented in near-documentary style with fly-on-the-wall cameras set around the house and gardens as we observe the apparently ordinary lifestyle of the family through daily routines.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We never go inside the camp, but are often subjected to the sounds of what's going on beyond the family's walls as </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Höss disappears into work each day to carry out his brutal activities slaughtering thousands of people. It is estimated that he was ultimately responsible for around 3 million deaths in the torture chambers - at then end of the film, we get to see some footage of </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Höss as he was captured, tried and hanged in 1947 and some facts about his horrific behaviour. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hedwig claimed that she knew nothing of the dreadful activities of her husband and was allowed to live.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The house was full of people serving the family, from the local Polish people and others from inside the camp. We are witness to the intolerant ways in which the various family members treat them when things go wrong here and there, on a domestic level. Hedwig loves her house, her family and only wants to make a perfect life for them. So much so that when </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Höss is promoted, with duties away from home, she insists on the family staying there and awaiting his return.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We mostly see </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Höss in his domestic situation, not always getting his own way as he clearly does at work, but a somewhat timid, at times, family man who, like his wife, will do anything to ensure that his family are catered for and who always come first. But can she really have had no idea about what goes on behind the walls, led by her husband? The constant smell of burning, smoke rising, sounds of abuse and torture, screaming and misery are clear for her to hear, though amongst that we observe her going about her privileged life, apparently ignoring them. Perhaps not hearing, though willing to benefit from the treasures confiscated from wealthy Jewish people in the camp.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This adaptation of Martin Amis' book is not an easy watch, in fact it's hugely disturbing and chilling, though its approached from a very different angle by director Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin) than most of what has gone before depicting WWII - and one which will linger in the memory for longer. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">One reason for that is the chilling performances of the two leads, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Christian Friedel (<a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2019/05/13-minutes-elser.html" target="_blank">13 Minutes</a>) and </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sandra Hüller (<a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2024/02/anatomy-of-fall-2023.html" target="_blank">Anatomy of a Fall</a>) as </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rudolf and </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hedwig Höss. They both grasp the roles with convincing dedication, making this somewhat clinical style of adaptation and filming come to life. Watch it also for the use of the aforementioned sound, but also silence used in suspense as the audience wonders what horrors will be heard next.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-39698510411830910382024-03-11T04:33:00.000-07:002024-03-11T04:33:38.012-07:00Sony Xperia 5 Mk.V<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElPBRD1LgHn_TZXOTDasryNKX7urg3Cwhi-PDFNxzK9gPXbxuWvDgTwCaZwA5-4yGoQDjOmW86PzgYDgjq5Lf3n5Ec-AD6ethL4TR0fIlaiU2TOM7A_-5EYY5ISgTF5OSzfzejuvf4RrrkhXidd9-jDGO-Zu5HzeYKi7XYnYfB_fpeGPbww_EuHGhnPRN/s3493/IMG_20240311_104453131_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3493" data-original-width="1708" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElPBRD1LgHn_TZXOTDasryNKX7urg3Cwhi-PDFNxzK9gPXbxuWvDgTwCaZwA5-4yGoQDjOmW86PzgYDgjq5Lf3n5Ec-AD6ethL4TR0fIlaiU2TOM7A_-5EYY5ISgTF5OSzfzejuvf4RrrkhXidd9-jDGO-Zu5HzeYKi7XYnYfB_fpeGPbww_EuHGhnPRN/s320/IMG_20240311_104453131_HDR.jpg" width="156" /></a></div>Sony evolve their design for Xperia smartphones, a little like others have begun to do these days, including Samsung. Exciting leaps and changes seem to be a thing of a decade ago, making way for a settled, consistent look/feel for manufacturers' hardware. This can be argued as a good thing of course, encouraging people not to change their device as soon, so eco-friendly, a result of much marketing research and feedback, but also, for people who review phones, less spills and thrills to highlight and focus on!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For those like me who prefer the <b>smaller smartphone</b> with <b>true one-handed use</b> available without fancy software screen-shrinking modes, the Xperia 5-series is certainly a contender - and for those who simply value the Sony brand and quality equipment, there's no choice. As we'll find out later, some of the advantages the 1-Series have now been implemented very effectively in the latest 5-Series too, so fewer compromises than last year, for sure.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I have my trusty Sony Xperia 5 Mk.IV here to compare these two units, the Mk.V having been sent over by SonyUK PR for us to look at and assess here at PSC Towers. My colleague <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/" target="_blank">Steve Litchfield</a> has already had a look in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@stevelitchfield/shorts" target="_blank">YouTube Shorts</a> coverage, which can be tracked down in his channel there. We're both big fans of what Sony are doing, that nobody else seems to be (at least in the flagship space) and are always happy to look at new releases, small changes as they might have.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxANiYR3nj8b3y1-hAGrA11xnQyCkKQfHhs6EuXzD1StlFVuWi6U7QMhucHiVr539jbLgCTOhxtCp5h2YiRtz7ZCwtN8JXua8cW-noJvY8-XiI49GBHxNSOM4yaIgCzneIryfrkl83dqv-nsKz_V6oZ1CWcgwQpy0Iv2jzYtyXqY_4xlPEY_JzURBAM4x/s2594/IMG_20240311_104536894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2594" data-original-width="2015" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxANiYR3nj8b3y1-hAGrA11xnQyCkKQfHhs6EuXzD1StlFVuWi6U7QMhucHiVr539jbLgCTOhxtCp5h2YiRtz7ZCwtN8JXua8cW-noJvY8-XiI49GBHxNSOM4yaIgCzneIryfrkl83dqv-nsKz_V6oZ1CWcgwQpy0Iv2jzYtyXqY_4xlPEY_JzURBAM4x/s320/IMG_20240311_104536894.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>The Sony Xperia 5 Mk.V was released in September 2023, a year after my Mk.IV, so it'll be interesting to see how far those (small) changes go. The box is pretty much the same as it was the previous year, small, eco-friendly and with nothing inside it apart from the phone and a few legal papers. <b>Bring your own charger, cable</b>, earphones, the lot - a far cry from the days of old. Fortunately I have all of those so can get up and running in no time!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first thing that strikes me compared to my Mk.IV is that <b>it's fatter</b>. Thicker. Technically, it's only 0.4mm but it a remarkable change in the hand and holding my older phone, I really prefer the dimensions of the elder. The Mk.IV is sleeker, with the same battery, and feels much more friendly, somehow, in the hand. Don't get me wrong, the Mk.V is also very <b>dinky</b> and someone coming to it without a Mk.IV in the other hand would think nothing more than how <b>cute and small</b> it is, compared to the giants most are used to, as time goes on.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Jisq-Ci7dXnlOJu1Ti5-UM_eSAdXyvfU0rdBe31XxaAj6egvWsB7R4jnA-_Fp0R8QcF1gdBcjauTxjiA4F-5l2JuJTE-K5pllEpaBE9UXaDpIP-a2iwevq2Nrej_ktyBjsMdmeelTwgXT4E3APB2DW9zUcwe42oUnJTF4zzaE-j-1CrsTELaWrlsCZ6G/s2682/IMG_20240311_103912401_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2682" data-original-width="1254" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Jisq-Ci7dXnlOJu1Ti5-UM_eSAdXyvfU0rdBe31XxaAj6egvWsB7R4jnA-_Fp0R8QcF1gdBcjauTxjiA4F-5l2JuJTE-K5pllEpaBE9UXaDpIP-a2iwevq2Nrej_ktyBjsMdmeelTwgXT4E3APB2DW9zUcwe42oUnJTF4zzaE-j-1CrsTELaWrlsCZ6G/s320/IMG_20240311_103912401_HDR.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>The <b>extra thickness</b> comes from a new level of 'ridge' on the edges, which is much more minimalist with the older unit. It's not really a problem, it's just slightly fatter. The other dimensions are very similar to the old. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Laying that aside, the blue coloured unit I have here is equally as premium in look/feel/design as the older phone, just a bit different. I do much prefer the look of this blue colour over my black older one. The buttons are all in exactly the same places, including that unique camera shutter button and the Corning Gorilla Glass upgraded from Victus to <b>Victus 2 for better scratch/smash protection</b>, sandwiching the<b> aluminium frame</b>. Added to this we retain the <b>IP65/IP68 water/dust rating</b>, which is excellent.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The NFC logo has gone from the back glass and the <b>camera island</b> now houses two lenses instead of one, which we'll come to later, but otherwise this side is equally pleasing - if not more so. We continue with the<b> fingernail-eject SIM Card/microSD Card tray</b> on the bottom, along with the <b>USB-C port</b> and<b> 3.5mm audio-out socket</b> up top. Yay! Depending on your region, you can expect a Dual Sim set up and/or nanoSIM and eSIM. Dual physical SIMs will clearly mean that there's no space for the microSD Card, as it's on the flip-side.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6O3HCumhQcNSnX1atB9GjWnZZVdVLIjP8U6Zx_dpljqvgD7p0hXTWpGhdvX2U8nz3xV56K20EQ9pg5BimF2VNBE3cd7r7LfDbtRkfmkrdmQRoccD6yeWozqtuQARGHbIVmPW_mR5ly03JcdVXFlBXunw43_Q3VAweoUl8AxNVTIovppM-6jI2YqoA4xJN/s3188/IMG_20240311_104608770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3188" data-original-width="1800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6O3HCumhQcNSnX1atB9GjWnZZVdVLIjP8U6Zx_dpljqvgD7p0hXTWpGhdvX2U8nz3xV56K20EQ9pg5BimF2VNBE3cd7r7LfDbtRkfmkrdmQRoccD6yeWozqtuQARGHbIVmPW_mR5ly03JcdVXFlBXunw43_Q3VAweoUl8AxNVTIovppM-6jI2YqoA4xJN/s320/IMG_20240311_104608770.jpg" width="181" /></a></div>The flat, front panel is the same <b>OLED</b> one, both phones displaying a super bright, colourful and vibrant output. They are <b>6.1" screen</b>s, <b>1080p</b>, producing <b>449ppi</b>, refreshing at up to <b>120Hz</b> and that signature <b>21:9 </b>cinemagraphic aspect ratio. Tall, yes, but in landscape for compliant media, unbeatable. No complaints about the screen, then, the same as last year's with all the Sony smarts thrown in as mentioned in my previous review such as Creator Mode, BT.2020 gamut and 10-bit HDR for great colours and brightness. Again, no complaints, but pretty much the same as before - chin and forehead which others try to eradicate, perfectly alright by me. Perhaps it's the same panel with the same software.<br /><br />Sony remain tight-lipped about how long they will<b> support their phones with OS updates and security</b>. Now and then there's a leaked conversation I stumble on via some Sony Rep. or other at some show or other who says this or that about it, but like Motorola to some degree, they don't seem to have a hard and fast policy for people to hold them to. What appears to be happening is that the Xperia devices get <b>2 OS updates and 3 years of security</b>, which is a really poor show when others are now offering 4 and 5, 5 and 7 and even 7 and 8. These are not cheap phones and Sony really should do better than this. But then I guess they figure they don't need to as they have a small but dedicated (and apparently wealthy) fanbase who will upgrade their hardware with Sony before it becomes an issue.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxm2rVBwXhhw5vzHXyBzZpWK_kfx9rbyljzyhq4mCsk8e87tcIYG3eQFIT4EP7Zrru0Yys3kK5c2428eETnZ7fPod5GJs7Eqc1PiZZTGdnuKBYn3n-s8tb32By3XRk7PLu_8HqawddI4P9u-Ep_K7ruRCDFja4AKto3we-J1V9N-6ML0oPXs4bDfaTnzu/s1359/Screenshot_20240311-105523~2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1359" data-original-width="1075" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxm2rVBwXhhw5vzHXyBzZpWK_kfx9rbyljzyhq4mCsk8e87tcIYG3eQFIT4EP7Zrru0Yys3kK5c2428eETnZ7fPod5GJs7Eqc1PiZZTGdnuKBYn3n-s8tb32By3XRk7PLu_8HqawddI4P9u-Ep_K7ruRCDFja4AKto3we-J1V9N-6ML0oPXs4bDfaTnzu/s320/Screenshot_20240311-105523~2.png" width="253" /></a></div>The Mk.IV arrived with Android 12, has now updated to 13 and 14, so I'm not expecting more. It is now in the 3rd year of getting security updates, which, so far, it is. Promptly. So the expectation for the Mk.V will be that as it<b> arrived on Android 13, it will get 14 and 15</b>, then security updates to autumn 2026. Fingers crossed, don't hold your breath for more.<br /><br />What we do have here is the latest (at the time of release) <b>SnapDragon chipset, 8 Gen 2</b>, against the 8 Gen 1 of last year's model. The more recent processor as seen on other devices has a reputation for super battery efficiency over last year's and that does indeed come to fruition here with even longer run and standby times than the Mk.IV. The Mk.IV was excellent already, but this, even better. Unless you're watching YouTube videos all day, a videographer, musician or photographer, caning the device, there's very little chance of not getting to the end of a long day with it. In fact, for my middling use,<b> it's a two-day phone</b>, no question.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyBF7j-rsRdu4BOh8A7E5S1L5w3wdR0bQIeCAR2SvZd8m3_aKMeTsT6xoJ_9a19Klt5Ruf1kDMOpdevvggxZ_Wd6-Sh3yWqx0AU9WooU6FBvG7MijBA-uEOma8IonDvmwGMPi5pBy5NX5YGO0DMU0_ilqOLGpx7iM7etshzRrrpL8KHR4hSLODLcweQZu/s3714/IMG_20240311_104654900_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="3714" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyBF7j-rsRdu4BOh8A7E5S1L5w3wdR0bQIeCAR2SvZd8m3_aKMeTsT6xoJ_9a19Klt5Ruf1kDMOpdevvggxZ_Wd6-Sh3yWqx0AU9WooU6FBvG7MijBA-uEOma8IonDvmwGMPi5pBy5NX5YGO0DMU0_ilqOLGpx7iM7etshzRrrpL8KHR4hSLODLcweQZu/s320/IMG_20240311_104654900_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It has the same <b>battery</b>, too, making all this even more impressive. It's the same <b>5000mAh</b> unit which they somehow stuff into the small frame alongside all the other hardware. I have got two and a half to three hours of screen-on time during my 10% Reading Test, which is pretty much up there with the best. Sony thankfully continue with <b>Qi Wireless Charging</b> (and reverse too, if you need it), slow as it may be, at least it's there - perfectly fine for overnight/bedstand, and also<b> 30W wired charging</b>, good to half-fill the battery in an half-hour. So not the fastest charging facilities in the world, but certainly good enough, particularly with that long-lasting battery to begin with.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5zesyX9hKtXaR6rU5sS_YfM3p43vZaO-jXMe_1-ZEGRfyvAhikRVHqV5STEaZD6D3_XjoEbD66beeJmMthKYhsTY9YQzXpP2LYJCv8CY9rKsaXt9rxnUgx4RnkBElpav8sLFUtPaw-_3UcgszAJmLYGwOjISVszjm5QeGqjPaQjdVdflQcohQzg0EJcD/s3578/IMG_20240311_104718679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="3578" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5zesyX9hKtXaR6rU5sS_YfM3p43vZaO-jXMe_1-ZEGRfyvAhikRVHqV5STEaZD6D3_XjoEbD66beeJmMthKYhsTY9YQzXpP2LYJCv8CY9rKsaXt9rxnUgx4RnkBElpav8sLFUtPaw-_3UcgszAJmLYGwOjISVszjm5QeGqjPaQjdVdflQcohQzg0EJcD/s320/IMG_20240311_104718679.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>There were many complaints about the phone/battery heating up during load with Xperia phones and to some degree that is true - when pushed with gaming, setup installation of over 100 apps or shooting video for extended times, <b>it certainly can get warm</b>, but like the previous models, I really don't think this is a huge issue. Some were seeing throttling during gaming, slowdown inefficiencies, but I can't say that I have. Maybe I don't play games that are demanding enough, in a very hot country, to make it happen, but it all feels within normal bounds for me.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQQXyDk6G9ezLbus1TWbjFT37-lztMX8_73iLE8u1lsIsIwVamsFIh0dOMlNGCSknjhl7ja_Ak6w5HWKOMgxnPR-MyXaIvGvgLNXrv7usVx5PksqDIuFQNfwocx2BYAGabeixTYELIHk61bIZLVZGqt3RzGT8Arm06yx9G-EMappDQW8ZweYp9qkuscsZ/s2520/Screenshot_20240311-105603.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2520" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQQXyDk6G9ezLbus1TWbjFT37-lztMX8_73iLE8u1lsIsIwVamsFIh0dOMlNGCSknjhl7ja_Ak6w5HWKOMgxnPR-MyXaIvGvgLNXrv7usVx5PksqDIuFQNfwocx2BYAGabeixTYELIHk61bIZLVZGqt3RzGT8Arm06yx9G-EMappDQW8ZweYp9qkuscsZ/s320/Screenshot_20240311-105603.png" width="320" /></a></div>The <b>car racing games</b> that I have tried here run beautifully smoothly, not a hitch, jutter or stutter. The <b>Game Enhancer</b> software from last year is present with swipe-in controls and information during play, <b>Dynamic Vibration</b> kicks in as needed and the whole experience is <b>immersive and entertaining</b>. The phone has <b>8GB RAM</b> to support multiple tasks and does so very smoothly, again, nothing's changed with that - and sadly something else has not changed... The <b>128GB Storage</b> onboard. I really thought they'd match the 1-Series and up that to 256GB this year, but no. There is, apparently, a 256GB version in the Japanese market, but I've never actually seen one for sale anywhere in the west.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaB5p-vc7ipVqSUo9j1vgNPwSKA8xMPtNClRuos2IaHToPihpriZDfu1SOlFgiDfOncaG8DH3drFqrGADlwoZGu75k0CWYA3eHHrXYjUvEKZuqUnTx2CFtk-IP11I1AQCspfwwangweuh-tE9vcbwKIXDowhpRFbizDky9aRGnOcPV-Pi8hhxuY05-dVmB/s2520/Screenshot_20240311-105301.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2520" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaB5p-vc7ipVqSUo9j1vgNPwSKA8xMPtNClRuos2IaHToPihpriZDfu1SOlFgiDfOncaG8DH3drFqrGADlwoZGu75k0CWYA3eHHrXYjUvEKZuqUnTx2CFtk-IP11I1AQCspfwwangweuh-tE9vcbwKIXDowhpRFbizDky9aRGnOcPV-Pi8hhxuY05-dVmB/s320/Screenshot_20240311-105301.png" width="137" /></a></div>Anyway, with a <b>microSD Card</b> (support up 512GB - and I've tried a quality-make 1TB one which it won't play ball with, even after much support/discussion/formatting etc.) the user can get plenty of additional storage - but there's nothing like fast, onboard storage in my opinion. Samsung, at time of writing, have announced a super-fast microSD Card coming soon, so maybe that will help. I constantly have a problem with microSD Cards during setup with <b>Google Photos</b> - it hunts and hunts to set up for days-on-end as it appears to be reading (very slowly) the whole card. I have now learnt to remove the SD Card during setup of the phone, get it all done, especially Google Photos, then put the card in after. It seems to work that way much better. I'm not saying this is Sony's fault - more likely Google's software.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Talking of <b>software</b>, again, there's between little and no difference between the two devices in this respect. Everything seems to work exactly the same, the two or three pre-installed, unremovable apps/services are baked in (thanks Sony!) and have to be Force Stopped/Disabled - I still fail to see why they have to do this at this price-point - the same suite of Sony's add-on applications - <b>Photography Pro, Cinema Pro, Videography Pro and Music Pro</b>, same launcher, front-end, UI and so on.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQwa_mzhRU5sUhCFfsNEaR_VkXP_WawBHEJwOCfWJGTATNBiTGVFP11LUYuMDnRkTAbuEXR4dgGZo3dexReo4gJSRsqmWqYZNAO35OYbRfe2C6irxSyXGe7ilTmvxuYkT_gRn8qymO9ZSqITPamHIE-b6XsvbkaTDQqTuPWU3B-vwdNkFMYuVC73A2Te-/s2520/Screenshot_20240311-105329.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2520" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQwa_mzhRU5sUhCFfsNEaR_VkXP_WawBHEJwOCfWJGTATNBiTGVFP11LUYuMDnRkTAbuEXR4dgGZo3dexReo4gJSRsqmWqYZNAO35OYbRfe2C6irxSyXGe7ilTmvxuYkT_gRn8qymO9ZSqITPamHIE-b6XsvbkaTDQqTuPWU3B-vwdNkFMYuVC73A2Te-/s320/Screenshot_20240311-105329.png" width="137" /></a></div>The <b>same missing features</b> that we have come to expect by now, like Face Unlock, Lift to Wake, Double Tap to Wake - why do Sony continue to miss out the basics that everyone else is including in order to make the Android experience more attractive to use, I wonder. To top it all, comparing with my Mk.IV, they've also now stripped out the <b>LED Notification light</b> from the top of the front display and re-worked the <b>Always on Display</b> so that it no longer shows AlbumArt - a distinctive and uniquely Sony feature all this time. This can't be blamed on Android 14 either, because it's still working (though in a diminished refreshing capacity) on my Mk.IV which is now also on Android 14. Shocking. Put it back as it was Sony!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Moving away from the negative bits, the <b>version of Android is indeed very 'vanilla'</b> just like Google's older implementation and somewhat akin to AndroidOne (where that survives now - mostly with Nokia phones), so that's a good thing. As I say, some of their own software has been added to support their hardware features, which is fair enough - nay, required - but it doesn't get in the way of what Google offers for the platform. There's no needless doubling-up of core applications - they're all Google's, and what you generally get is a clean experience without everything being bogged down with bloat or background activity.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_6uJuM4eos6w8NU7B3RIwxiHjuFlPxJpUIBLEfDoRXtcLlKcTDn-NdoVHzdCKCtZbhNW8DoYpDMCkOAgH1gkEQQ4iE1kSIKzbLykLLfPu9idf7Y7STgUmXnyC7ie_qNcPdzcxyappisFxgtC0sXUSkQdIf2aU2BevQpeVK91pYABmK42wlKuSPt8YyME/s3617/IMG_20240311_104814478.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="3617" height="63" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_6uJuM4eos6w8NU7B3RIwxiHjuFlPxJpUIBLEfDoRXtcLlKcTDn-NdoVHzdCKCtZbhNW8DoYpDMCkOAgH1gkEQQ4iE1kSIKzbLykLLfPu9idf7Y7STgUmXnyC7ie_qNcPdzcxyappisFxgtC0sXUSkQdIf2aU2BevQpeVK91pYABmK42wlKuSPt8YyME/s320/IMG_20240311_104814478.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Similarly, the ongoing inclusion of the hardware <b>camera shutter button</b> is great. Makes it much more like a camera-user's experience and I'm sure that's the idea, with lots of crossover to <b>Alpha camera </b>functionality making their imaging customers right at home. The <b>side-mounted, capacitive fingerprint scanner</b> is just about perfect. Right technology. Right place. Right size. It just works. First time, every time.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicJW10wQGmg4tzjSdrjoeBgEkrM3Of3N21q0SZC5K7TbUvCtVjgEcerqF9ASVBGZ4Sbn8M8sfzGfd7hefmDRabM9GZTpG0Bn3X09XFzoTzGLt83ngpsrrpRPx72fBmolDIUsuq1PdUuCdpJTbW-I3U6DKTXTW1RChPXztGYDvlCm1eC6wVkN0h4IsmLss/s2520/Screenshot_20240311-105236.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2520" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicJW10wQGmg4tzjSdrjoeBgEkrM3Of3N21q0SZC5K7TbUvCtVjgEcerqF9ASVBGZ4Sbn8M8sfzGfd7hefmDRabM9GZTpG0Bn3X09XFzoTzGLt83ngpsrrpRPx72fBmolDIUsuq1PdUuCdpJTbW-I3U6DKTXTW1RChPXztGYDvlCm1eC6wVkN0h4IsmLss/s320/Screenshot_20240311-105236.png" width="137" /></a></div>One thing that has changed since last year's model is the <b>output from the speakers</b>. Whether that's hardware of software I don't know but the speakers' output is now right up there with the 1-Series Xperia phones. Up until this 5th Generation, there was a difference - the 1-Series was always a step ahead - but now, not. They are just as good and give out the same excellent sound, volume and quality, as their bigger brother's. Same is true of the <b>Dynamic Vibration</b> which I mentioned earlier in relation to gaming. Right up there with the 1-Series, up to now, always coming in second-best in the Xperia line. The sound and DV was still very good on the 5-Series, don't get me wrong, but now, no longer slightly behind.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The <b>audio experience</b> is excellent all round and, along with the cameras, this is clearly what Sony are after in the Xperia line. Some other phones might be louder, but they don't have the fine-tuned quality that these Sony devices have (and certainly don't have DV). Put up against any test device I have here, Dolby Atmos engaged or not, 360 Reality Audio/Upmix tinkered with or not, DSEE/AI dabbled with or not, it comes out tops for all but those wanting a bit more volume. I'd trade volume for quality every time. Playing music or using the 21:9 for video, front-facing stereo speakers, DV engaged, wide stereo, makes for a much better watching/listening experience than any other phone on the planet!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiKLRcw3gkBLkVFauiq8giTE_1s6hK9x1TN-BHXp-vWiSZZnjwLiDEggpWC00Jk2xd5Lyp9brL5uNsTwrfFRNLT6dh8TP2eXqIHzqMcbo44aZnU_j449Lf4Rfbv5EPG09xYRLvrbF80wKvSuTeE3euRehI0SroEu9PBxlcfOSOR4B-jx2farq0eQOFEs8/s2520/Screenshot_20240311-105126.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2520" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiKLRcw3gkBLkVFauiq8giTE_1s6hK9x1TN-BHXp-vWiSZZnjwLiDEggpWC00Jk2xd5Lyp9brL5uNsTwrfFRNLT6dh8TP2eXqIHzqMcbo44aZnU_j449Lf4Rfbv5EPG09xYRLvrbF80wKvSuTeE3euRehI0SroEu9PBxlcfOSOR4B-jx2farq0eQOFEs8/s320/Screenshot_20240311-105126.png" width="320" /></a></div>Then there's <b>Bluetooth v5.3</b> and Sony's excellent headphone/speaker support with LDAC and/or <b>3.5mm audio-out</b> for a cabled-up set with <b>24-bit High-Res audio</b>. Paired up (in both senses of the phrase) with my <a href="https://amzn.to/3IrUotS" target="_blank">Sony WH-1000XM4</a> headset and the sound, functionality and overall experience is second-to-none. A deep-rooted voyage into the world of Sony audio and it's very impressive indeed. Same is true for peripheral speakers - you just seem to get the most out of all this if you use their own gear. Of course, it works with other hardware and Sony's supporting Headphones App is available for any smartphone, but it feels to me as though with their own combination of gear, it's just the best. But then I'm a long-time Sony fan, so would say that!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgobmhv4HvLZ6ImNn4X_-ekICnqJh1Kr9KAKR5dHZLvPuC6GYkUC4FQzSg1kk-vewhGTWxELym-tW-cAJFDdts7hhMA_BmSs6fQ_dWxM8LUf-0ACtDTuxV51tAKQlR32hJiiaeK3eRSqSluXmYsg1Ri4NJNmO3LZl-kbZ7MDZWPe_9_itfqbOF3e2dY5nPW/s2520/Screenshot_20240311-105203.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2520" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgobmhv4HvLZ6ImNn4X_-ekICnqJh1Kr9KAKR5dHZLvPuC6GYkUC4FQzSg1kk-vewhGTWxELym-tW-cAJFDdts7hhMA_BmSs6fQ_dWxM8LUf-0ACtDTuxV51tAKQlR32hJiiaeK3eRSqSluXmYsg1Ri4NJNmO3LZl-kbZ7MDZWPe_9_itfqbOF3e2dY5nPW/s320/Screenshot_20240311-105203.png" width="320" /></a></div>Connectivity </b>seems to be as good as the Mk.IV was with all aerials connecting efficiently and holding on when needed. <b>GPS</b> with mapping and other apps/services, <b>WiFi</b> (6e for those who can get it) is solid, <b>NFC</b> for connecting to other gear is spot on (especially other Sony gear) and executing payments at terminals and so forth - all good, strong and confidence-inducing. I was pleased to see that the <b>USB-C 3.2 OTG</b> continues to support <b>HDMI-out</b> to other screens. It maybe not be Samsung's DeX or Motorola's Ready For, but it allow the user to send media to bigger screens on other devices as well as hook into the Alpha system for use with other photographic gear.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ni3FofSk0gBtF30i6owRzxCWB1bIUmkyQphKSAujhxn3iLfNvNYoKGR0O5Frt8uGXnc4ETVVdgV1sy0MrsTxRcHeLUeUCJOcL4H7RwvfD5t2FXVWQk8NNtn5ajDW9WFzGi3bHokUhDJ3HvNZi98onTCIVoOVaGZe0005FFDDyx36e5mGXHYjej-L6LZ7/s2520/Screenshot_20240311-104945.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2520" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ni3FofSk0gBtF30i6owRzxCWB1bIUmkyQphKSAujhxn3iLfNvNYoKGR0O5Frt8uGXnc4ETVVdgV1sy0MrsTxRcHeLUeUCJOcL4H7RwvfD5t2FXVWQk8NNtn5ajDW9WFzGi3bHokUhDJ3HvNZi98onTCIVoOVaGZe0005FFDDyx36e5mGXHYjej-L6LZ7/s320/Screenshot_20240311-104945.png" width="137" /></a></div>Next, we come to <b>photography</b> and Sony's main emphasis, as mentioned earlier, appealing to the owners and fans of their Alpha line of 'proper' cameras. They will feel right at home here, as they did with last year's model, but this time they've taken away one of the cameras from the mix! Last year we had three 12MP sensors (normal, telephoto and wide-angle) and this time, two - a <b>48MP f1.9 main shooter with OIS and a 12MP f2.2 wide-angle</b>. Sony claim that with their new sensor tech, the results are better, not worse, even though that 2.5x zoom has gone. Cropping in on the more powerful sensor produces even better results.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To prove all this I'm going to link out to my colleague's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@stevelitchfield/shorts" target="_blank">YouTube Shorts</a> again as Steve trails through the ins and out of how that works and how impressed he is. <a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/7aZf-tA9pNw?si=0jOcw3Do3turdD0V" target="_blank">Imaging Examples</a>, <a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/VGbMxUO5f3o?si=7k4Vu4kKez4FEZSP" target="_blank">Who Needs a Telephoto?</a> and <a href="https://www.gsmarena.com/" target="_blank">GSMArena</a> for a deep-dive, charts, comparisons and data <a href="https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_5_v-review-2605p5.php" target="_blank">starting here</a> and <a href="https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_5_v-review-2605p6.php" target="_blank">continuing through</a> to those specialist apps and services, <b>Photography Pro</b>, <b>Cinema Pro</b> and <b>Videography Pro</b>. Otherwise not huge changes including the ongoing use of Zeiss optics with T* lens coating and a 12MP f2 Selfie. All who have reviewed agree that the Xperia line remains niche and special in the world of creating photos and video, also support for musicians with the <b>Music Pro</b> app, which I spoke about in my previous review and doesn't appear to have changed. The recording of multi-layered audio is still capped at 10 minutes per event. I was hoping that this would be extended/lifted this year so us podcasters could get in on the action.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5o6J22NrZfYIWVPxwDJ_ZkC6CR2GXmFl-mSPLveXoC3N1w8RabJXIj3kkLvzNCaZmh4eLKHBxDArrA1EjwlPQgb1Toz9regyNjx13K4-b3Mis1CEvi188H7l5eJArJReZ-ox_5FlK47MrsBL0rAGYzlXTrFkZZ-l9arRFgUNONLLv6ni0lp17V9q1RhIU/s2520/Screenshot_20240311-104933.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2520" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5o6J22NrZfYIWVPxwDJ_ZkC6CR2GXmFl-mSPLveXoC3N1w8RabJXIj3kkLvzNCaZmh4eLKHBxDArrA1EjwlPQgb1Toz9regyNjx13K4-b3Mis1CEvi188H7l5eJArJReZ-ox_5FlK47MrsBL0rAGYzlXTrFkZZ-l9arRFgUNONLLv6ni0lp17V9q1RhIU/s320/Screenshot_20240311-104933.png" width="137" /></a></div>The phone is available in <b>black, blue or platinum silver</b>, costs currently <b>£799</b> - which is actually a £100 drop since the previous model. People are reflecting on the notion that Sony were trying hard to place the 5-series somewhere more like in the middle of the flagship 5-series and mid-range 10-series and that drop does pretty much that. So yes, a little bit more financially accessible for more people, though still 'premium' pricing.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a super little device which sits in a kind of niche place in the smartphone world. <b>Dinky, small, one-handed use, pocketable</b> - the number of devices in this range seems to reduce as we go forward - and that's a shame. So kudos to Sony and the other few who keep that alive. It continues to feel like a 'specialist' smartphone, designed very clearly for the creator crowd, Alpha hardware users (even maybe some professionals when they don't have their pro gear with them), musicians and photographers who are happy to spend more time treating their phone like a 'proper' camera in order to retain control and create images/video/music in a way no other smartphone seems to match.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzxB3xU8JaMRh8Sjnf1UfCIhBzFc017dbaZYQuB_lac_bXjKrbr4ZHdWbCbLKK36WFUnifjTWGTpxdi-JclDFr-GQZa1RkdT0qOUjFFU8HDVMGizRWcxCPXRJ3fBfH2s3vEtu9XqKdC36ATX2zD7cFwPgzDtbBsdZH-7wcVYf1NSm6JNhnCBMy51VaoaD/s3486/IMG_20240311_104347378_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3007" data-original-width="3486" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzxB3xU8JaMRh8Sjnf1UfCIhBzFc017dbaZYQuB_lac_bXjKrbr4ZHdWbCbLKK36WFUnifjTWGTpxdi-JclDFr-GQZa1RkdT0qOUjFFU8HDVMGizRWcxCPXRJ3fBfH2s3vEtu9XqKdC36ATX2zD7cFwPgzDtbBsdZH-7wcVYf1NSm6JNhnCBMy51VaoaD/w257-h222/IMG_20240311_104347378_HDR.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>It's all very impressive. It may not be a huge update from last year's model, and I don't feel the need personally to upgrade this year, but no doubt many will and I could well join the band when the Mk.VI arrives, presumably this autumn.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Very highly recommended for the right user</b>, who appreciated good audio - but not the point-and-shoot AI-driven camera brigade - they will be better served elsewhere, but good luck finding all that in such a classy, small and beautifully made device.</span></div><p></p>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-32114004415000865152024-03-10T05:26:00.000-07:002024-03-10T05:26:06.157-07:00Alice and Jack (2023)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4rTmNwx1aR63m17nPH99YrLfLOkrWwinFAD3dusvOTgUjql2fM96-yr0RzK1vmg5aJVR-LPMns55bArFFjsLuzu9aszO9b1nyXWCHZSD5F_8TGHiN9m-da31c-RUIOoPWcuUOScq1OlqLVUrcvXFJODAP6X24P_kirUVuOk_qiYekR_kspnATcjZ3svSx/s1142/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20122510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="794" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4rTmNwx1aR63m17nPH99YrLfLOkrWwinFAD3dusvOTgUjql2fM96-yr0RzK1vmg5aJVR-LPMns55bArFFjsLuzu9aszO9b1nyXWCHZSD5F_8TGHiN9m-da31c-RUIOoPWcuUOScq1OlqLVUrcvXFJODAP6X24P_kirUVuOk_qiYekR_kspnATcjZ3svSx/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20122510.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>Anyone seen this Channel 4 drama? I stumbled into it and got hooked pretty quickly as we accompany the two characters through 15 years of their up/down relationship during the 6 x 45-minute episodes.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Alice is a dreadful person at the outset, in lots of ways, damaged by her past, but out dating anyway (for sex). She has a successful job but few friends, as she's like she is. Keeping real life at a distance and treating those around her fairly abusively. Along comes Jack, via a dating app, and her chance to change all that is rotten about her.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jack is a research scientist and deeply engaged with his work, trying to make the world a better place for those suffering with illness and disease. He's a man with a soft heart and prime candidate for Alice to destroy, break the heart of. But there's a chemistry going on from the start which will, or won't, overcome the usual Alice-style approach to life and commitment to anything outside of her bubble.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The series takes us through a long passage of time (in which, incidentally, they don't seem to really age much)! Alice disappears from his life at various points for lengths of time and we pick up the story again later. During one of these periods, Jack gives up on her, meets Lynn, gets married, has child (though not in that order)! This complicates the whole issue in relation to Alice when she pops up again.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The whole series sweeps the viewer between emotions, it's hugely moving in parts, particularly towards the end when events transpire to challenge the pair even more, those with whom they are involved (especially his daughter), the wealth and health issues which follow and eventual outcomes.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Domhnall Gleeson (Ex_Machina, The Revenant, Brooklyn) is excellent in the lead alongside Andrea Riseborough (Oblivion, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Shepherds and Butchers) as they both ensnare the viewer, well, this one, anyway, not letting go until the last frame of the last episode. The deep roots of their underlying strangely-enacted love and devotion for each other, often destroyed by life events both present and previous, are portrayed beautifully by them and it was also great to see Aisling Bea (Trollied, This Way Up, Love Wedding Repeat) pop up again as his wife, doing equally well with her lesser role.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a super little heavily-Irish casted drama which often tugs on the heartstrings, is smartly written and intelligent, never soppy but hugely engaging, the time flying through each episode. Watch it for excellent core performances (along with other Brit actors doing great jobs) but be in the mood for a moving, quirky but emotional tale. And detesting Alice for the first half of it!</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-17958152814782923862024-03-04T02:53:00.000-08:002024-03-04T03:44:27.860-08:00What Happened to Monday (2017)<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxhp_nAc701B-O6bnz3kRv35H-OBVvEDOr2wBujzH3Z8fzoEYA0kAw3I5Qmixel7hlqzufPGBTYu89N-x6A8yhYsNFChecTiZIPHz-WysXB9b7l4W6-rAlu7hrWgEo2_8mM04z1FkkV6Z16_xTIts39P_P-0SNibEeRWvxp3hnzHOQS30Qz7P1BgIA3Vp/s1072/Screenshot%202024-03-04%20104738.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="780" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxhp_nAc701B-O6bnz3kRv35H-OBVvEDOr2wBujzH3Z8fzoEYA0kAw3I5Qmixel7hlqzufPGBTYu89N-x6A8yhYsNFChecTiZIPHz-WysXB9b7l4W6-rAlu7hrWgEo2_8mM04z1FkkV6Z16_xTIts39P_P-0SNibEeRWvxp3hnzHOQS30Qz7P1BgIA3Vp/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-04%20104738.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>Norwegian w</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">riter director Tommy Wirkola was in charge of this project following some violent fun previously with the likes of Dead Snow (and Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead), Violent Night and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, but if you don't like that genre, don't be put off of watching this outing, which is much more a Sci-Fi action film and well worth your time.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The star of the show is Noomi Rapace (<a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2023/05/black-crab-2022.html" target="_blank">Black Crab</a>, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2023/05/you-wont-be-alone-2022.html" target="_blank">You Won't Be Alone</a>, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-captorstockholm-2018.html" target="_blank">Stockholm</a>, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-secrets-we-keep.html" target="_blank">The Secrets We Keep</a>) who plays 7 roles in the film! That's right, and this forms the basis of the Sci-Fi bit as we join the story in two eras, 2043 and 2073. In the former, we're shown glimpses of a world where human overpopulation of earth is using up all the planet's resources far too quickly, so the authorities clamp down allowing only one child per couple/family. Woe betide anyone stepping outside of this regulation!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Those who do so, have their subsequent offspring taken away, the authorities setting up cryogenics chambers so that the kids can be brought back at a later date when things have settled back on earth to an equilibrium. These measures are enforced by military means as squads of professionals infiltrate the population with a green card to pretty much do what they like to enforce it and have set up digital check-points all over the place.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anyway, back to Noomi's characters' tale and we witness 7 identical little girls being looked after in an apartment by their grandfather, played by Willem Dafoe (<a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2024/01/inside-2023.html" target="_blank">Inside</a>, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2024/02/poor-things-2023.html" target="_blank">Poor Things</a>, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2018/07/tom-viv.html" target="_blank">Tom & Viv</a>, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2022/03/nightmare-alley-2021.html" target="_blank">Nightmare Alley</a>), teaching them the dangers of being caught and learning survival skills to use if and when they are exposed. By the way, the reason everyone is having multiple births like this is because the genetically modified food that scientists are creating to combat the population problem has that as a side-effect - all pregnancies produce big litters!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Grandfather disappears as we leap 30 years forward and now spend time with the Seven Sisters (which, incidentally, was the original title of this film) named after the days of the week. Out in public, at work, facing other people, they assume the name of their mother (Karen Settman) who, incidentally, died during the birthing of the kids. There's no mention of the father, I don't think. So each day, one of them goes out, dressed up to look the same, so each of them gets freedom from the apartment one day per week. They have to share their day with each other at the end of it so as to make sure the other 6 don't get caught out not knowing something from the days when it's not their turn. Keeping up at the back?!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One day, Monday goes out to work and doesn't come back. Then Tuesday goes to find her the next day and here begins the thriller bit with plenty of action as the authorities appear to have worked out what's going on. Throw in an officer who seems to have fallen in love with (at least) one of them, willing to bend the rules in his personal quest, a nasty politician, played menacingly by Glenn Close, seeking re-election by fair means or foul, a nasty bloke at the head of our hit-squad in focus and it turns somewhat into a bit of a thrill-ride!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is very much the Noomi Show with her in the 7 roles in pretty much every scene. It's edge of the seat stuff often and she holds the film together in a fabulous performance. The special effects are pretty much seamless when time and again, we're in amongst the 7 sisters and they are all interacting together. Beautifully executed and shot. Close and Dafoe are really not in it very much at all, but what they do, as we'd expect, they do very well.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a great idea for a story which could easily have become a bit daft in the wrong hands, but production values are high and what we've ended up with is a real cracker of a thriller which nobody'll nod off in, during the 2 hour runtime. Yes, there are plot-holes for those looking for them, but for the rest of us it's great fun, totally absorbing and engaging. Highly recommended.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-70723689527533797112024-03-01T02:11:00.000-08:002024-03-01T02:11:14.545-08:00PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of February 2024<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjosbqBNY7whzUCWZK583Az6o7ZOWn3kePI2kBzUwBvKKHDpheJCtJfh4jizOF72IYPgI7mMnIHSqjmlwKq7ssNEuZ0LXcjd5MPBWTD4wpIyTXqwhDteB_5dYxdGA-HHUVI1JLnN118a2yZtH1ZDc6O17GZ3FVXVcAfsxMNVkBfjVO6u6AXmiiq5aXuKA=s320" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; font-family: georgia; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="320" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjosbqBNY7whzUCWZK583Az6o7ZOWn3kePI2kBzUwBvKKHDpheJCtJfh4jizOF72IYPgI7mMnIHSqjmlwKq7ssNEuZ0LXcjd5MPBWTD4wpIyTXqwhDteB_5dYxdGA-HHUVI1JLnN118a2yZtH1ZDc6O17GZ3FVXVcAfsxMNVkBfjVO6u6AXmiiq5aXuKA" width="320" /></a> <i><span style="font-family: georgia;">...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!</span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br />Phones Sho</b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;">w Chat</b></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Episode 787 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">More Duos, More Flips and a Nexus</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Saturday 3rd February<br /></b>Steve and I bang on about the stuff we like at great length 😂 So yes, another catch-up show as we continue to swap hardware and yarns!</span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Tech Addicts Podcast<br /></b></span><b><a href="https://www.techaddicts.uk/category/podcast/" target="_blank"><span>Tuck, Fold and Roll</span></a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Sunday 4th February<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gareth and I </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">are back, looking at the Fold and Roll phone, Samsung and Sony's Money, Rugged Phones from Samsung, the Demise of Bullitt, Fossil Calling Time on Smartwatches, Microsoft Making Too Much Money, Ash Tray Designs, Microsoft Edge Being Dodgy, Ayaneo Flip Impressing with Dual Screens, MSI Claw Pricing, ImageFX Rolling Out Slowly, Chromebooks with 16GB RAM and Exciting New Zoom Audio Recorders. All the fun of the fair! Do join us!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Project</b></span><b>or Room<br /></b><b>Episode 156 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/projector/index.html" target="_blank">Gorky's Griselda</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Wednesday 7th February<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Allan, Gareth and </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">are here again with our fortnightly roundup of all things film, cinema and TV. This time we Treat on Lee Marvin, grizzle for more Griselda, call an Ambulance with The Family Plan during The Night of the Virgin, work out the Primer Anatomy of a Fall and even shout out for Loudermilk! Plus oodles more, so do join us!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Phones Sho</b></span><b>w Chat<br /></b><b>Episode 788 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">Just Clip on a Stylus</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Saturday 10th February<br /></b><a href="https://www.mobilephonemuseum.com/" target="_blank">Ben Wood</a> joins Steve and I this week as we natter about all things mobile phone and catch up on the latest from Ben's museum. Plenty of time left to talk about Flipping and Folding, the Magic of Honor, the NXT thing in paper-like screens, Moto mayhem, Sony's short support, a bygone Sony Ericsson beauty and oodles more. So do join us for an hour!<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Phones Sho</b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;">w Chat<br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Episode 789 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">And in a Packed Programme Tonight...</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Saturday 17th February<br /></b></span><a href="https://mewe.com/group/5bbc47be2ee15f2bb81abed0/members/profile/5bbde7c1a40f305c256bad02" style="font-family: georgia;" target="_blank">Jim Fowl</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"> joins Steve and I this week again as we focus on all things mobile. I unfold my thoughts on 5th Generation Sammy clams, Jim can't decide between a Duo (or more) of devices and Steve has hands on with the latest Xperia beauty! Lots more besides, including a trip to London, Sweden!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Tech Addicts Podcast<br /></b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.techaddicts.uk/category/podcast/" target="_blank"><span>Publisher Perished</span></a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Sunday 18th February<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gareth and I </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">are back </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">with another scoop up of techy stuff including a highly recommended Acer Chromebook with a great screen but short battery life, the Samsung re-released the Galaxy Tab, Microsoft’s PC Manager app, BitLocker’s vulnerability, the Pixel Fold’s alleged new design and loads more including UK tech bargains! Available in the usual places, so do join us.<br /><br /><b>Whatever Works<br /></b><b>Episode 202 - <a href="https://whateverworks.works" target="_blank">Rented Rug Rubs</a>!<br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Monday 19th February<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aidan and I </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">are back with another </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">therapeutic hour of jolly japes and frantic fiddles as we wonder about Whatever Works for you and us! Brian Eno makes an appearance alongside my parents (so make what you will of that!), Microfibre this, Fluorescent that and we're sure you won't tyre of our self-inflation!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Project</b></span><b>or Room<br /></b><b>Episode 157 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/projector/index.html" target="_blank">One Day, Day One</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Wednesday 21st February<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Allan, Gareth and </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">are here again with another of our fortnightly roundups. This time it's Intouchable Beekeepers, a Wonder Wheel outing with Juno Temple, a Night Swim in Loudermilk and a Bricklayer Ride Along aside the usual highlights. So do join us!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Phones Sho</b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;">w Chat<br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Episode 790 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">Dark Side or Light?</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Sunday 25th February<br /></b></span><a href="https://mewe.com/group/5bbc47be2ee15f2bb81abed0/members/profile/5ead5ad928596b75c43df18a" style="font-family: georgia;" target="_blank">Andrew Manning</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"> joins Steve and I this weekend as we explore more of our marvelous mobile merits! The goodness of Sony is up-front and centre, as is living a world between the main OS contenders left! Nostalgia galore, classifieds and even Photo of the Month. What's not to abandon all else for?!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p><i style="font-family: georgia;"><u><b>The Podcasts<br /></b></u></i><i style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/podhubuk/index.html">PodHubUK</a> - <span id="docs-internal-guid-5ec6a1a9-7fff-1ade-d976-93198a3c4ca7"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">Phones Show Chat</a></span></span> - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/index.html">The Phones Show</a> - <a href="http://whateverworks.works" target="_blank">Whatever Works</a> - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/music/index.html">Chewing Gum for the Ears</a> - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/projector/index.html">Projector Room</a> - <a href="https://techaddicts.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">Tech Addicts</a></i></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><i><u style="font-weight: bold;">The MeWe Community Groups</u> (follow the links to join up)</i></span><br /><span><i><a href="https://mewe.com/join/phones_show_chat">Phones Show Chat & The Phones Show</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/whatever_works">Whatever Works</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/chewing_gum_for_the_ears">Chewing Gum for the Ears</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/projector_room">Projector Room</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/psc_photos">PSC Photos</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/pscvideos" target="_blank">PSC Videos</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/psc_classifieds">PSC Classifieds</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/techaddicts" target="_blank">Tech Addicts</a></i></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span><i><u>The Team</u></i></span></b><br /><span><i><a href="http://tedsalmon.com/">Ted Salmon</a> - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/">Steve Litchfield</a> - <a href="http://www.aidanbell.com/">Aidan Bell</a> - <a href="https://garethmyles.com/">Gareth Myles</a> - <a href="http://allangildea.com/">Allan Gildea</a></i></span></span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-90630535132026495112024-02-27T13:43:00.000-08:002024-02-27T13:45:44.886-08:00Poor Things (2023)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdOKNv02N1YjUcRvXcPIXbxHMwdiQhM1pl2cqaBgjAIAsV4uU9SfQh18Xuy9DDlriJo-rLwYVnxuJIQLrgmj4cMCJX9tDBvnr2H0WrMyw2luuTdHUcGPdKpKMvUsPHGpkmfNDH2EZnw6J_chUhM2Z1ajBpipoAyWjXNdXgeDOMi-9r5S8TTbKK66azipx/s1140/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20214235.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="792" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdOKNv02N1YjUcRvXcPIXbxHMwdiQhM1pl2cqaBgjAIAsV4uU9SfQh18Xuy9DDlriJo-rLwYVnxuJIQLrgmj4cMCJX9tDBvnr2H0WrMyw2luuTdHUcGPdKpKMvUsPHGpkmfNDH2EZnw6J_chUhM2Z1ajBpipoAyWjXNdXgeDOMi-9r5S8TTbKK66azipx/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20214235.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>If you appreciate the work of Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Dogtooth, The Favourite) then you'll likely lap this one up too! It's a seemingly chaotic, Victorian-era, gothic, dark and bizarre romp with a feel of Frankenstein at the core.</b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bella Baxter is the creation of mad scientist/doctor Godwin, having snatched up a pregnant woman who had committed suicide by plunging into the Thames. She died, but the child survived, so Dr Fruit-loop (calling himself 'God' by the way) takes the brain of the infant and puts it inside the head of the woman and what we end up with is the woman, dubbed Bella by him, for he knew not who she was, with a child's mind, outlook, behaviour and sense of adventure and discovery.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Willem Dafoe (<a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2024/01/inside-2023.html" target="_blank">Inside</a>, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2018/07/tom-viv.html" target="_blank">Tom & Viv</a>, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2022/03/nightmare-alley-2021.html" target="_blank">Nightmare Alley</a>) as the monster scientist plays it beautifully, only upstaged by the fabulous performance of Emma Stone (<a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2018/07/magic-in-moonlight.html" target="_blank">Magic in the Moonlight</a>, The Favourite, Irrational Man, La La Land) as Bella. The pair of them transform into the characters required of them and are clearly having great fun depicting this off-the-wall story. They are a delight to watch (and for those wanting to see more of Stone, she certainly reveals plenty of herself)!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, there's loads of sex as Bella explores being an adult, gets into all sorts of adventures, looks for her place and what she should be doing. The doctor is too past-it to consider coupling up with the young Bella, so he grooms one of his medical students, Max McCandles, played by Ramy Youssef (Mr Robot), lining him up to be her partner and eventually, husband. Bella finds him boring though and is much more turned on by the attentions of the doctor's wild lawyer, himself wanting to grab all life can offer, Duncan Wedderburn, played equally slickly by Mark Ruffalo (All the Light We Cannot See, Dark Waters).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wedderburn whisks Bella off on a tour of Europe, having his way with her in various cities, situations and onboard boats, showing her how to make the most of her adult body, she milking the pleasure it can bring her! Eventually, the wild lawyer falls for Bella though, against his better judgement at the outset, and is most upset when she wants more than just him. More excitement with more people!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But it's not all sex and soft-porn! This is a delightful arthouse outing which is directed beautifully, the most being made of bright colours and lavish, creative, fantasy-based sets. So yes, the cinematography is perfect and the sets and costumes from a creative mind (and world). When you see the boat they are on at one point from afar, this all becomes very clear - that it's a creation of a mind going wild with design and ideas. And the who thing's a whacko idea, but clearly Lanthimos is having fun creating, in an almost Tim Burton way at times.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The film could be considered absurd, but I loved it as a reworking of the Frankenstein tale. The 2 hours and 20 minutes runtime simply flew by, the performances from pretty much all the players was great - but particularly the four leads, headed up by the impeccable Emma Stone. It's a wild ride, so strap in, get lost in it and you'll enjoy!</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-24892315819689469232024-02-25T13:19:00.000-08:002024-02-25T13:19:02.232-08:00Miller's Girl (2024)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmks4QLy64_OdefG4-7v0m9kDkfIrObgI0VUYSL790dv7sZw732fJdcTRf7ZWLt8yzn2s_k8ftLZ7vRkCkl3I_UgIYAETPHvg2lo9w5taGgEJAgWGZ57vkmG4oh6QP4Awj8i8_bcz6_CqnYguDewq-O_SlQMNpOvr39Q-80uOCn8t0EODL6OjCPDuTxnO/s1083/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20211807.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1083" data-original-width="741" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmks4QLy64_OdefG4-7v0m9kDkfIrObgI0VUYSL790dv7sZw732fJdcTRf7ZWLt8yzn2s_k8ftLZ7vRkCkl3I_UgIYAETPHvg2lo9w5taGgEJAgWGZ57vkmG4oh6QP4Awj8i8_bcz6_CqnYguDewq-O_SlQMNpOvr39Q-80uOCn8t0EODL6OjCPDuTxnO/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20211807.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>I won't quite flop it, but it's not far off, on first viewing. Certainly don't pay your hard-earned if you have no points or whatever to get it for free. Martin Freeman (who seems to pay an embarrassing lack of attention during accent-training) plays a failed writer, so now teacher, in an American college. Mr Miller.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jenna Ortega's 18 year-old character Cairo (what a great name) starts to take his class and demonstrates to him that she has a special writing talent, so he singles her out for special attention. He sees nothing wrong with that. Until it gets out of hand and they're clearly falling for each other.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's all very arty-farty throughout and we're not really ever very clear about what has happened between them, if anything, and what's an artistic projection of what she's writing about, but whatever it is, it raises concerns amongst the college's leadership, his wife, his friend and well, pretty much everyone really. So plenty of trouble ahead!</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Add into the mix Cairo's tart of a friend who's trying to bed one of Mr Miller's colleague male teachers, but states that she's a lesbian, a drunk of a wife who makes him feel like an inadequate failure and we have the elements for potentially a good story and film. Sadly, it's really not.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is, of course, nice to see the two high profile lead actors here, though sex and nudity there ain't - in case you were wondering - this film rather tries to artistically make suggestions of wrong-doing alongside some life observations about rejection, regret, failure and ambition. Sadly it gets caught up in itself trying to be something more.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's generally nicely shot with very thoughtful camerawork, use of soft focus and close-ups - yes, very arty, the cast do well (apart from Freeman's accent) and it's, well, OK I suppose. I did find myself getting bored with it at times and wondering where it was going - and it doesn't really go anywhere. It's a short 90-minute film so perhaps if it were longer it might have been better. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Don't know. Anyway, wait for it to come to streaming. It feels a bit like a direct-to-video outing to me.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-16563290795305312062024-02-16T10:25:00.000-08:002024-02-16T10:25:06.678-08:00Laced (2023)<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7hmcjDFMwQ3o9SiFbE7QRQkUsnXs2EH99FFVKeB_WZwcl-15bvPM4VZjj4eb6Qy3ZpBEo6wyfhZ0GMu56HuLwHSAw77fjVh_l54A2OgQF5jac4nwf1M1429oE6WNStxjGmVR9lZ5Zbq04xtxg1D11GI8TRYkJv60Lp1ePCIherOsMamd6DcYqXeLPmit/s1097/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20182254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="786" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7hmcjDFMwQ3o9SiFbE7QRQkUsnXs2EH99FFVKeB_WZwcl-15bvPM4VZjj4eb6Qy3ZpBEo6wyfhZ0GMu56HuLwHSAw77fjVh_l54A2OgQF5jac4nwf1M1429oE6WNStxjGmVR9lZ5Zbq04xtxg1D11GI8TRYkJv60Lp1ePCIherOsMamd6DcYqXeLPmit/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20182254.jpg" width="229" /></a></b></div><b>The film that desperately needed a twist. And it didn’t come. But it keeps you expecting one and OK if you don’t know (I’ve spoiled that for you now)! Well actually there is one small twist, I guess. But anyway, I quite liked this little thriller.</b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s quite claustrophobic and felt as though it could have easily been a stage play with the whole shoot inside one house whilst outside a snow storm is in motion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s the story of Molly who is living with her husband, Charlie, who abuses her (though we don’t see any evidence of it). She’s fallen in love (before we join the story) with a woman called Victoria.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Victoria has encouraged and facilitated Molly into bumping Charlie off by poisoning him, which she tries to do. Victoria is the apparent brains behind the plan and has it all worked out regarding disposal of the body.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the middle of all this, Charlie’s friend Austin (who is also Molly’s brother) turns up unexpectedly and finds himself in the now-getting, complicated mix. It could well have been turned into a comedy (of errors) but no, it sticks to its guns as a thriller!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Three of the four actors, particularly Dana Mackin as Molly, are very good and Kyle Butenhoff playing Charlie is also the director/writer of the yarn. Hermione Lynch as Victoria is the one out of her depth as she goes about her task in a wooden manner.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But most of it is fun and stitches together nicely as a well-paced thriller. It keeps the viewer’s attention with some suspense and gore here and there. Worth a watch. It just really needed a twist!</span></p>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-3173931888353003832024-02-16T10:16:00.000-08:002024-02-16T10:16:33.375-08:00The End We Start From (2023)<div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FkF9Gl-rVRx0jF1M6Y8A0dx9eFgRyHcjWkEOrWMKerXl-BOOrXKc8kuFccrsVigM_fDOleImpWqHm10H31dqYPKGzfYP8nyPaReD_b0_Puy7vS5tJkpboDzyOZhodM_iucghhNdCyrj1CU4-iFyD9Go4VuvDKBGlKSNItcxPJHttGxbBB4LwDi2cQpLj/s1043/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20180928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="789" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FkF9Gl-rVRx0jF1M6Y8A0dx9eFgRyHcjWkEOrWMKerXl-BOOrXKc8kuFccrsVigM_fDOleImpWqHm10H31dqYPKGzfYP8nyPaReD_b0_Puy7vS5tJkpboDzyOZhodM_iucghhNdCyrj1CU4-iFyD9Go4VuvDKBGlKSNItcxPJHttGxbBB4LwDi2cQpLj/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20180928.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>There’s a major climate disaster here as a backdrop to a survival (and love) story involving a nameless man and woman, she at the outset, heavily pregnant with their child. Rain is the problem here and London is getting more and more flooded by the hour.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">The population is trying to flee to higher ground but the armed forces have been engaged to prevent overcrowding and the resulting drain on limited (and dwindling) resources for everyone to stay alive. As we approach the birthing scene, we are offered plenty of nudity and a fairly explicit, but brief, exposure to more as the sprog comes out.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">The early scenes of the film depict a quiet, isolated existence for the pair and this only changes as they try to get away from London and join his parents in rural England (presumably) somewhere. We’re not really very sure where’s where in the film - at one point we seem to end up on a Scottish-looking island, but that’s a long way from London. And there’s no mention at all of any shortage of petrol for cars. Or indeed where they’re getting their cigarettes from which seem to be in plentiful supply!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anyway, they find the parents’ house but eventually run out of food, so have to go out looking. One thing leads to another, tragedy galore, until the three of them end up in a shelter - but in doing so, get separated. She’s allowed in with the brat, but he, not. She befriends a woman in a similar situation whilst there and they decide to trek off together and away from everyone. Eventually, getting a tip-off (from a character played by Benedict Cumberbatch) about the aforementioned island where there’s a kind of self-supporting, Kibbutz, hippy community.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">A lot of the film is about trekking around - sometimes aimlessly, sometimes with a target and purpose - it’s during these scenes where we see the survival part come into play with the child needing feeding and mother scrabbling around to find food for herself. It’s all quite laid-back though and there’s often no real feel of urgency about their plight. Part of the reason for this is that she often stumbles into good fortune on her travels, which is probably a little unrealistic.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">And so, there’s great potential to pick holes in the plot here but I think that rather misses the point of the film being an artistic, poignant, beautifully shot, stylised (almost) apocalyptic yarn, which often comes across in near dream-state. Even the scenes which would ordinarily end up as being 'moving' or emotional are presented differently. I think it’s supposed to be removed a bit from reality, expectation of close scrutiny and such critical questioning. More of a go-with-the-flow affair. Like the Kibbutz!</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Laying all that aside, the film is totally held together by the fabulous performance of Jodie Comer (<a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-last-duel-2021.html" target="_blank">The Last Duel</a>, Killing Eve) - she's in pretty much every scene (and we see plenty of her!), ably supported by Joel Fry (Trollied) and a bunch of other Brit names who all perform very well. It's nicely produced and shot with controlled views of the effects needed for the flooding - but more so, the rural countryside backdrop to much of the story. Recommended very much, but take the above into account and don't be expecting something that it's not.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-14044358379428459362024-02-12T14:05:00.000-08:002024-02-12T14:05:30.383-08:00Witness for the Prosecution (1957)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVFXCgp2yhGRH_eraRPGf9hs6YuBBLkv8W-frAtCzWlsg3oGQyGoSxKu_Ss8hwD36YwFfg3Jde7NBLUuTsH5uTu6i2WDvUSVnQNVrqu94lAD9df9fSxujE7b9LKeqG-Nhg2F9Nyhk52HLi9Zxpgdq5jF8HAC2Ue3sCzhtvJ1xLg5Ffa4L-YXvTo_GWXgk/s1176/Screenshot%202024-02-12%20212200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1176" data-original-width="774" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVFXCgp2yhGRH_eraRPGf9hs6YuBBLkv8W-frAtCzWlsg3oGQyGoSxKu_Ss8hwD36YwFfg3Jde7NBLUuTsH5uTu6i2WDvUSVnQNVrqu94lAD9df9fSxujE7b9LKeqG-Nhg2F9Nyhk52HLi9Zxpgdq5jF8HAC2Ue3sCzhtvJ1xLg5Ffa4L-YXvTo_GWXgk/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-12%20212200.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>This is a film by writer/director Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot, Sabrina) taken from an Agatha Christie book of the same name, made, as I write, 67 years ago, in true Hitchcockian style! Some films of the era seem embarrassingly badly made now but this is a clear exception.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Leonard Vole has been accused of murder and is to stand trial for the crime he claims not to have committed. He appeals to famous barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts and his team of solicitors to reveal the truth and save him from a hanging. Vole is married to a German lady, Christine, and we're served up with a flashback as to how they met in Berlin, when she was an actress/entertainer and he, just finishing duty as a soldier in WWII.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Leonard has recently befriended a charming lady, Emily, who is the victim of murder. She lives in a posh London house with her cantankerous old live-in help, Janet. Janet takes an instant disliking to Leonard, but Emily is charmed by him and enjoys his attention, having lost her husband some time back. We spend some more flashback time getting to know how the two met and a little insight into their friendship.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Turns out that Emily had recently changed her will and left a huge lump of cash to Leonard, which was previously going to Janet - so we can, by now, see the first of many complications which lead the prosecution to believe that he bumped her off, having gained her confidence, for the loot.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As usual with Agatha Christie stories, there are characters written in with comic elements and Sir Wilfrid Robarts is mainly the one here. The ageing barrister is decidedly unwell, the medics have told him to retire, he has a live-in nurse who keeps badgering him to stop smoking, drinking and generally enjoying himself but he can't resist getting involved in this, apparent, one last case. He's played by Oscar-nominated Charles Laughton very engagingly - like a Winston Churchill-a-like!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The films then turns into something of a courtroom thriller with Robarts' side-kick John Williams (Dial M for Murder) defending the man, whilst Torin Thatcher goes at them as prosecutor, Mr Myers. We spend quite a lot of time in court as the case unravels, unexpected turns of events happen, people not quite who we think they are or at least not with the agenda we think they might have, truth and lies to unpick and see through - there's plenty going on and I really shouldn't spoil anything more here - as it's such fun to be a part of the unfolding, twists and turns, heading towards the finale.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tyrone Powers plays Vole charmingly, straight out of 1950's post-WWII England and Marlene Dietrich, his wife, who we get to hear sing, watch dance and act in amongst all the chaos, blood, alibis, mystery and thrills. The players all do very well and the 'wooden' appearance of their characters genuinely feels like it's a reflection of the era, not lousy acting! Nor should it be, with a cast like this for the day.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a rip-roaringly fun mystery thriller which is just shy of two hours, but those two hours fly by as the director totally engages the viewers, even all these decades later. Thoroughly recommended if you haven't seen it and can enjoy the twisty-turny. Suspect everyone of everything! It's very funny during the end credits where there's a comically threatening audio announcement that people having seen this film are not to tell any of their friends who haven't, about the outcomes - very Mouse Trap!</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-3925935026676910082024-02-10T04:13:00.000-08:002024-02-10T04:13:05.755-08:00Night Swim (2024)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0Sy9W8hLFyhTiQ487_qoSde_VRwevCYIs0ff7Qb2Z6HBv1wn4cjhKJMqYFOWCgVixJg3s2z-aCc3dvFXc6qCG2ceGTciVzDWJeSBc7liCSBYxD8CkrsFM5gDFM_aNtPf03gmf1aylu411ob2PrzDNpQu-95ktprROejstc3k-A5qg7pBGR6uZEksH4v8/s1094/Screenshot%202024-02-10%20121212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1094" data-original-width="738" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0Sy9W8hLFyhTiQ487_qoSde_VRwevCYIs0ff7Qb2Z6HBv1wn4cjhKJMqYFOWCgVixJg3s2z-aCc3dvFXc6qCG2ceGTciVzDWJeSBc7liCSBYxD8CkrsFM5gDFM_aNtPf03gmf1aylu411ob2PrzDNpQu-95ktprROejstc3k-A5qg7pBGR6uZEksH4v8/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-10%20121212.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Not sure how to rate this really. It’s a bit more shallow than the family’s pool but it’s certainly watchable and kinda fun in the process. It’s largely the creation of director/writer Bryce McGuire, apparently elongated from a short (which I have not seen) to make it 98 minutes of film.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s about a family who have bought a house where a little girl, some decades earlier, has died/drowned/disappeared whilst swimming in the house’s pool. We get a flashback of that incident right at the start.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jump forward to the present and our bright-eyed and bushy-tailed family are dead excited about the first house they have owned, not rented, and are straight into making use of the pool. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dad is an ex-baseball player who is injured and had to all-but retire as an athlete but as he starts swimming in the pool, he starts to get better, disproportionately quickly. He also cuts himself and after swimming, his hand shows no sign.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">When the family swim at night, there are strange going-ons like images of people standing by the pool, voices, sounds, cries and all sorts of spooky stuff that brings us into the spirited, supernatural part of the tale. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, there’s some sort of underground lake or pool or something that the house was built on and some sort of water force clearly isn’t happy about it, and seems to need to be ‘paid back’ for the nice stuff it does, like dad’s recovery, with human sacrifice (or snatchings).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s all a bit daft and not really a horror, as such - more of a shot at a thriller. There are a couple of jump-scare moments and abrupt sightings of some ugly evil spirit creature that the water has conjured up, but otherwise it’s quite tame really and relies on suspense and imagination.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s quite an interesting idea and the cast, headed up by Kerry Condon (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) and the (spookily enough) former sportsman Wyatt Russell do a decent enough job with the material. The two kids of the family tag along and actually the girl, played by Amélie Hoeferle, earns some acting brownie points.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The film does drag on a bit, especially when we eventually get to the supernatural bits. There are also plot holes, daft decisions made by the characters and decidedly unlikely behaviours here and there, but then it’s kinda supernatural so they can be forgiven I guess once the spooky spirit starts to get ahold of ‘em!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I think it’s worth a watch, but don’t expect OSCAR-winning anything here. It’s just a run-of-the-mill terror/thriller/spook which at times does well with the suspense for the audience especially when the family members are swimming in the pool after dark and the lights go out! All good fun.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-86385383003412713432024-02-09T00:46:00.000-08:002024-02-09T00:46:28.824-08:00Summertime (2015)<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLkU8EieJSJtFWPWCiOiwjrYNNNuOkPV5hZy2VpkF301AnbwfviLFOfD7PG6fd23qs1H4bwi1A9bQMlzek2jGP8HKHoh7U0k95UcPNlK6gdW0jNM5Jr4HKPIxyq6CIo4pEcf8VBxvF59DzQCFqWl6xuFTSsbdm-Ws0srmbI-m7zDGCWiOTVBjUumKHNyB/s1160/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20083620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="786" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLkU8EieJSJtFWPWCiOiwjrYNNNuOkPV5hZy2VpkF301AnbwfviLFOfD7PG6fd23qs1H4bwi1A9bQMlzek2jGP8HKHoh7U0k95UcPNlK6gdW0jNM5Jr4HKPIxyq6CIo4pEcf8VBxvF59DzQCFqWl6xuFTSsbdm-Ws0srmbI-m7zDGCWiOTVBjUumKHNyB/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20083620.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>This 2015 French film is really called </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">La Belle Saison and director/writer Catherine Corsini is out to make a number of social, political, sexual orientation and prejudicial statements from an era when all these things were evolving in the early 1970's.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Young Delphine, played to perfection by </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Izïa Higelin (a successful musician in Europe by the way - going by just </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Izïa), has grown up in rural France on the family farm, loves it and her life there, but feels under pressure from the close-knit community, especially her parents, to marry a local boy with whom she has grown up through school. She works the farm hard and committedly.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amongst this social pressure she resents and rejects, she has had a couple of close relationships with other girls. We see one in the storyline rejecting her because of that same social pressure and her, going off to cave in and marry a boy, even though she doesn't really want to.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Delphine isn't giving into that and so decides, whilst dad is still fit and healthy enough to run the farm, to go and 'find herself' by moving to Paris for a while. When she gets to the capital, she stumbles into a group of feminist activists going about their crusade and activities in order to raise the profile of their campaign. Equality for women and social respect for people who want to make choices about their lives and their bodies.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The leader of this group is the free-spirited Carole, also played beautifully by </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cécile de France (<a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2024/01/high-tension-2003.html" target="_blank">High Tension</a>, Russian Dolls, The French Dispatch, <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2023/12/chinese-puzzle-2013.html" target="_blank">Chinese Puzzle</a>), and they soon fall for each other and slowly build a personal and physical relationship. Carole's life is complicated too as she is living with her boyfriend Manuel, who is not happy about Carole's orientation swing when the truth comes out. The passion and chemistry of the two girls' relationship is explored and depicted on camera by the director in a 'no holds barred' way, with somewhat explicit nudity and sexual activity between the two leads.<br /><br />Delphine's father collapses and is hospitalised, so she is now required by the family to return and work the farm in his place. He never recovers, so this depiction of family duty and responsibility remains a feature throughout the rest of the film. The desire to get away and be herself, pursuing her desires, up against traditional values and perceived responsibility to those close to her. So she goes home and does just that. However, Carole is so besotted with Delpine by now that she goes with her - and the middle part of the film depicts the pair of them sneaking around, working the farm, keeping their secret between them.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Eventually it gets out of course and the final part of the film rounds up the story as we discover what the pair do about their situation, how they scramble and fight to balance their personal desires with social expectation and duty to other people in their lives both in the village and Paris.<br /><br />The backdrop might be the social turmoil and prejudice of the era, but this is very much an engaging love story as our two leads negotiate their plight. It's exceptionally moving with an intimate portrait and sprinkling of tragedy and heartbreak thrown in for good measure. We revisit the pair some years later in the end to have a peek at how the decisions they have made impacted their lives down the road.<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The rural and urban landscapes are beautifully shot, the sets, dress and backdrop of the 1970's faithfully recreated with the director's eye for fine detail. It's very much not a 'tits and arse' film with the nudity and sex scenes being appropriately shot in keeping with the development of the story. It's an intelligent film which shares a snapshot of the times some of us lived through as a backdrop, whilst always being more about the evolving relationship between the two leads. Which is performed beautifully. Highly recommended.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-65332403261142183952024-02-05T13:25:00.000-08:002024-02-05T13:25:18.121-08:00The Royal Hotel (2023)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTZdLUYSs0-kVNKK0Ebq0fgoz58hBj0DtnoTXZrFz0yIZRugvgrVy78EA_zGShqHKSzEggNoo5R69UPGvCOAq9j97w7e6TrywtPoQrl8XogS0lWV0EUzrtd-Xcqm9tloWRsrRSGtMzdXlhDXL-huUL1jKywBs7iNgwLuMsuFw3LPrDl6-YzYWjChGKnR4/s987/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20212430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="987" data-original-width="779" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTZdLUYSs0-kVNKK0Ebq0fgoz58hBj0DtnoTXZrFz0yIZRugvgrVy78EA_zGShqHKSzEggNoo5R69UPGvCOAq9j97w7e6TrywtPoQrl8XogS0lWV0EUzrtd-Xcqm9tloWRsrRSGtMzdXlhDXL-huUL1jKywBs7iNgwLuMsuFw3LPrDl6-YzYWjChGKnR4/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20212430.jpg" width="253" /></a></div>One of Kitty Green’s pro-female films (The Assistant, Ukraine is Not a Brothel) in which Osark’s Ruth (Julia Garner - also in The Assistant) goes backpacking with her friend in Australia only to run out of money so needing to get a job.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">They do so in a bar in an aggressively male-orientated outback town where the pair of them witness, and are subjected to, lots of male attention and bad behaviour, usually via booze.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s really slow and boring as Green drags the audience along in order to make her point. The Assistant was similarly slow, but had something much more engaging about it.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Garner and Jessica Henwick do what they can with what they have, but it’s not enough. It is clear even from this though, what a good actress Julia Garner is becoming. But this is just dour, hollow, too long and drab.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-23838815622113456362024-02-05T13:23:00.000-08:002024-02-05T13:23:15.332-08:00Anatomy of a Fall (2023)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOHQtMRE0ItUD5c6eKRWMLHWwkibSM_bigf_QC01B9b548R1KuzyBO1GIE924pvv7yo1GotxP-Ytgq8hicQkDU8e8dFGmX-Sq6rJzFfQYT8Mi6RfU1gihbYWGEPPomFLvRehbFJ_pAuR-RaG1iJUIs565uoVLVW23YHjsdpwY9R-SV_zbaVo8fAC75uKU/s1063/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20212227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="792" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOHQtMRE0ItUD5c6eKRWMLHWwkibSM_bigf_QC01B9b548R1KuzyBO1GIE924pvv7yo1GotxP-Ytgq8hicQkDU8e8dFGmX-Sq6rJzFfQYT8Mi6RfU1gihbYWGEPPomFLvRehbFJ_pAuR-RaG1iJUIs565uoVLVW23YHjsdpwY9R-SV_zbaVo8fAC75uKU/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20212227.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>A snow-covered chalet in France is the setting with husband, wife, child and dog. The woman is German and a writer and is suspected of her husband Samuel’s murder - as when he fell out of a window, she was the only one at home, they had a relationship full of friction and their son, discovering the body on his return, has a severe sight impairment.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apart from flashbacks in which much of the truth about their situation is unpeeled for us - and time getting to know the characters - the film ends up in court as she faces the trial.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s full of tension and suspense as we observe the scene, the family, the likelihood of a murder, suicide or accident with those having to make the decision.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Husband has had a suspected history of at least one suicide attempt, to make matters even more tricky. It’s made even more difficult for them as they have to dance around between languages, French, where they live, English, the husband’s native language and German, hers. Subtitles, obviously, where needed away from English.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Justine Triet wrote the story/film with Sandra Huller in mind to play to lead - and Huller does a splendid job throughout. A masterclass in acting, many have said. I don’t know any of the other players, but the two and a half hour run time flew by and it's up for all sorts of awards as a piece of art.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-56922556391670856972024-02-05T13:09:00.000-08:002024-02-05T13:09:13.148-08:00Another Earth (2011)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwQha69giPf2VFs3nJ8pP2D5R3eR8fVFkzYxR-CIn45NQqKnC5LEyvNSle23s4Ew4giI-Hxj8Ldw9RE-Np0bk3QSAF7jy3iJsDmbC7-PraVssbhS_dhMG2eH1dS9tihhTOsP8IpOc7fMXHN7S2bZxypPy0k9LOL-Q744AEa9PPx8SgVLeM5tlPsy6tBe4/s986/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20210811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="802" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwQha69giPf2VFs3nJ8pP2D5R3eR8fVFkzYxR-CIn45NQqKnC5LEyvNSle23s4Ew4giI-Hxj8Ldw9RE-Np0bk3QSAF7jy3iJsDmbC7-PraVssbhS_dhMG2eH1dS9tihhTOsP8IpOc7fMXHN7S2bZxypPy0k9LOL-Q744AEa9PPx8SgVLeM5tlPsy6tBe4/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20210811.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>This is a nice little low-budget Sci-Fi/drama/love story. A young woman (Rhoda) has been astronomy-mad forever and one day, humanity suddenly sees Earth 2.0 looming out in Earth 1.0's orbit! An identical-looking planet.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">She's fascinated of course. So much so that she is peering out of her car window at it, driving, a bit tipsy after a party, and crashes into another car occupied by a family. Fatalities litter the scene. But the man of the family survives and Rhoda tries to connect with him a few years later, not revealing her identity. They start to spend time together.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the meantime, she enters a competition to be one of the lucky people to head off to Earth 2.0 and so the story unfolds from there - which I won't spoil.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Sci-fi bit takes a bit of a back seat really to the drama between the players, but it still lurks around most corners providing a strong backdrop to proceedings.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's nicely played by the two leads, Brit Marling and William Mapother, as they negotiate the past, present, future, present and past! Worth a gander if you get the chance.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-38779958570430144492024-02-05T13:07:00.000-08:002024-02-05T13:07:02.915-08:00Primer (2004)<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtHfsdE8N73XMfFbLIEpGAF4aDkWM4ceHhUCh3Gi0RoyjmrqK1bBP9r1nMvhFvXV6TbxAdX3KFr7U8oUHvCkbSdLG6nRMVEjWXsDVnaXFmNIY4ZVKpstm-iaim82wQvmZQd0yjh7wn3YnaMr8snpNnZSuIB9nARiWtbfx8M_pndiRPVa7oOW6uFYTdvo2/s1088/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20210622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="798" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtHfsdE8N73XMfFbLIEpGAF4aDkWM4ceHhUCh3Gi0RoyjmrqK1bBP9r1nMvhFvXV6TbxAdX3KFr7U8oUHvCkbSdLG6nRMVEjWXsDVnaXFmNIY4ZVKpstm-iaim82wQvmZQd0yjh7wn3YnaMr8snpNnZSuIB9nARiWtbfx8M_pndiRPVa7oOW6uFYTdvo2/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20210622.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>Blimey, this was a bit of mind-bending Sci-Fi that I tried to keep up with as it went along! Gave up in the end after it finished and watched a YouTube Video explaining it all by diagrams! Still, I expect you folk already know this one and I'm just a bit thick.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's all to do with these four nerds who build a machine in their garage which is supposed to do something clever to do with proteins, but ends up enabling time-travel backwards. So they set about trying to exploit that for gain, but of course all is not as it seems with such scientific unknowns and experimentation. They use themselves as guinea pigs as they start playing with time warps and face the consequences.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There's a lot of hand-held camera used throughout, which is a bit Blair Witch annoying, making the thing come across as more of documentary at times. The soundtrack was not great either - I'm guessing that this was another low-budget outing. But certainly interesting for geeks, and short at 80 minutes. But if you're as dense as me, tag on another 10 minutes to head for YouTube at the end!</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-29207552434632711072024-02-02T04:25:00.000-08:002024-02-02T04:25:20.362-08:00Microsoft Surface Duo 2 Fun!<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRiumcpUVveexYh0DOoQPEm-EFNaZf_dIrMBTTeWYbXeUQ5I_pnHNB7MReta7X3faelF3Pl2nXc3Hudh3yZPQb2xMvDHpZnhZsfYGNy-HYkRW8vZXhk6Gb8vdLJtqCePD89sG0OJk0o4g4WqMxSfDQzkbur_ur7QefeMej_RIei8nc_zuiM1eLHP8CUbO/s4000/20240202_114852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRiumcpUVveexYh0DOoQPEm-EFNaZf_dIrMBTTeWYbXeUQ5I_pnHNB7MReta7X3faelF3Pl2nXc3Hudh3yZPQb2xMvDHpZnhZsfYGNy-HYkRW8vZXhk6Gb8vdLJtqCePD89sG0OJk0o4g4WqMxSfDQzkbur_ur7QefeMej_RIei8nc_zuiM1eLHP8CUbO/s320/20240202_114852.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Thought I'd share a couple of snaps of how one can be set up with the Duo, with peripheral equipment (even if one doesn't have DeX or Ready4). Unbelievably, the hookup to Microsoft's Phone Link on the PC is far from rock solid (as it is with DeX), particularly with regards to flaky Bluetooth connections - a topic we'll cover in PSC soon - so other options are here and pretty good.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Firstly, the <a href="https://duodocks.square.site/" target="_blank">3D Printed DuoDock</a>, which works well (despite my USB-C port concerns) and ensures the device gets ongoing power (or connection - or in fact both, when using an adapter). These come from USA and cost (with shipping) $60. $40 if you live there.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Next, the <a href="https://amzn.to/49kFe54" target="_blank">Logitech K380 Bluetooth Keyboard</a> which is rock solid and works beautifully with the Duo, except that I can't seem to stop the onscreen keyboard from popping up when using it as well - I'm sure I'm missing a setting somewhere. Or maybe it only works with MS's keyboard and not GBoard.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmrgiTShZ7p6S3if6MSv7niCAjgP0y2EfC-7cqLGKAqaNWllyeZzd4aMvBgeheqjmKtP0_-pnOq8om_IMabkju345PLMwxWZCY5K3_AWA58LB4co_D3kcsi_XlRbHb4xkzGZI2kupL3eOV8nNPM_h0fuzC1yJTb5RuJMA9mXWfrrQPL84fRDbIqGrJ8-4/s4000/20240202_115144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmrgiTShZ7p6S3if6MSv7niCAjgP0y2EfC-7cqLGKAqaNWllyeZzd4aMvBgeheqjmKtP0_-pnOq8om_IMabkju345PLMwxWZCY5K3_AWA58LB4co_D3kcsi_XlRbHb4xkzGZI2kupL3eOV8nNPM_h0fuzC1yJTb5RuJMA9mXWfrrQPL84fRDbIqGrJ8-4/s320/20240202_115144.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The <a href="https://amzn.to/3OusDV0" target="_blank">Surface Slim Pen</a> - this is the OG one, donated generously by long-time listener @James Cook, so huge thanks to him. It doesn't have Bluetooth like the second generation unit, but otherwise works fine. With the newer one, the buttons can be assigned to more actions instead of the 'standard' ones (erasing stuff etc.) and it reports battery state, but I don't think that's a huge problem - it's nice to try the genuine one rather than the 3rd party unit we have been using, good as that was too.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then there's the <a href="https://nexdock.com/" target="_blank">NexDock Touch</a> (which can't be bought any longer). The NexDock 360 is still available as well as the forthcoming NexDock XL. Just like with DeX, the keyboard works, the trackpad works and the touchscreen works (unlike Ready4 with which, none of it works)! So that certainly could be another setup to use. Pass-through audio and all. The only caveat is that (unlike DeX and Ready4) the screen aspect ratio is wrong and there are resulting black bars left and right - but I really don't think that's a big deal for anyone but purists!</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anyway, having fun with it all here. I do find one of the most interesting aspects of smartphones these days is how they can be used with other gear - and when they can't, I get bored with them more quickly!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>(AmazonUK Links are my Affiliate ones, for which I get a few pennies when used. Thanks.)</i></span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-33961495706977832712024-02-01T02:35:00.000-08:002024-02-01T02:35:33.426-08:00PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of January 2024<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjosbqBNY7whzUCWZK583Az6o7ZOWn3kePI2kBzUwBvKKHDpheJCtJfh4jizOF72IYPgI7mMnIHSqjmlwKq7ssNEuZ0LXcjd5MPBWTD4wpIyTXqwhDteB_5dYxdGA-HHUVI1JLnN118a2yZtH1ZDc6O17GZ3FVXVcAfsxMNVkBfjVO6u6AXmiiq5aXuKA=s320" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; font-family: georgia; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="320" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjosbqBNY7whzUCWZK583Az6o7ZOWn3kePI2kBzUwBvKKHDpheJCtJfh4jizOF72IYPgI7mMnIHSqjmlwKq7ssNEuZ0LXcjd5MPBWTD4wpIyTXqwhDteB_5dYxdGA-HHUVI1JLnN118a2yZtH1ZDc6O17GZ3FVXVcAfsxMNVkBfjVO6u6AXmiiq5aXuKA" width="320" /></a></p><p><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!</span></i></p><p><b style="font-family: georgia;">Whatever Works<br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Episode 200 - <a href="https://whateverworks.works" target="_blank">A Double Century</a>!<br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Wednesday 3rd January<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aidan and I </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">bring you this landmark show, 8 years on, with nods to fellow founders <a href="https://mewe.com/group/5bbc4aa3a5f4e532eb54fcb4/members/profile/5bbde82aa5f4e57c7378b6f5" target="_blank">Richard Yates</a> and <a href="https://mewe.com/group/5bbc4aa3a5f4e532eb54fcb4/members/profile/5bbdeb0ba40f305c255ae7cf" target="_blank">David Rich</a> back in January 2016. So a new theme tune, but lots of the usual kind of mayhem and fun, so do join us for a small celebration as we're joined in turn by <a href="https://mewe.com/group/5bbc4aa3a5f4e532eb54fcb4/members/profile/5bc24a25a40f300b6218ad38" target="_blank">Gareth Williams</a> and <a href="https://mewe.com/group/5bbc4aa3a5f4e532eb54fcb4/members/profile/5bbde81ba5f4e57c737313f1" target="_blank">Chris Kelly</a>.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Phones Sho</b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;">w Chat<br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Episode 783 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">Noting the Zenfone</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Saturday 6th January<br /></b></span><a href="https://mewe.com/group/5bbc47be2ee15f2bb81abed0/members/profile/5bbe42f5480990096c26c3dd" style="font-family: georgia;" target="_blank">Mike Robins</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"> joins Steve and I this week as we natter about all sorts of good mobile stuff, including what Mike's been using, me looking forward to the arrival of the Flip5 and Steve musing on speakers and cameras-in-phones compared to a 30x Zoom Compact or Marshall Willen!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Tech Addicts Podcast<br /></b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.techaddicts.uk/category/podcast/" target="_blank"><span>Scratching that Twitch</span></a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Sunday 7th January<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gareth and I are back for 2024, dribbling over tech! In this show, an investigation into the sexy streamings on Twitch, the Inc</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">ognito mode judgment, Nuclear container ships, an e-book reader from Onyx, Samsung AI, Motorola AI, Microsoft AI, Google AI and the Retroid Pocket 4 amongst much more!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Project</b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;">or Room<br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Episode 154 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/projector/index.html" target="_blank">Society Minus One</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Wednesday 10th January<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Allan, Gareth and </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I are back again with our first roundup of all things film, cinema and TV for 2024. Godzilla, Chicken and all sorts of Cold Prey found within The Ruins in Mexico, the Andes and Dangerous Waters is on our plate! So come and join us for a bumper-length outing!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Phones Sho</b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;">w Chat<br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Episode 784 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">Death to Passwords and Big Phones</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Saturday 13th January<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's been far too long since </span><a href="https://mewe.com/group/5bbc47be2ee15f2bb81abed0/members/profile/5c25518923fe1a27dddad88c" style="font-family: georgia;" target="_blank">Jamie Holland</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"> was our guest, so Steve and I fixed that and welcomed him in for a chat about what's going on in the world of IT security and what tech he's using just now. Loads of other stuff too, including my findings with the Flip5 for a week and Steve's take on nuclear-powered phones!<br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Phones Sho</b></span><b>w Chat<br /></b><b>Episode 785 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">Why Stop at Three NexDocks?</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Saturday 20th January<br /></b>Steve and I are joined this week by <a href="https://mewe.com/group/5bbc47be2ee15f2bb81abed0/members/profile/5bbf2c49a5f4e544333fa8fb" target="_blank">Mark Finlay</a> who tells us all about the devices and services he's been using since last on, in 2020. We also natter about the Samsung Unpacked event, Ready4 and DeX, Sony and Flip phones, even The Duo - something for everyone!<br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Tech Addicts Podcast<br /></b></span><b><a href="https://www.techaddicts.uk/category/podcast/" target="_blank"><span>It's a Ring Thing</span></a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Sunday 21st January<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gareth and I </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">bring you our fortnightly roundup of techy trinkets. We caress CES by kipping on our cars, daisy-chaining pogos, Rabbiting on about the R1, Think(hybrid)Book, go retro with FiiO, climb with Casio and Ring the planet with mirrors - and fingers with Rings! Plus loads more!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Project</b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;">or Room<br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Episode 155 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/projector/index.html" target="_blank">Post Office Monsters</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Thursday 25th January<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Allan, Gareth and </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I are back again with </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">another bumper-length look at what we've all been watching in film, cinema and TV. This time we Treat on Burt Reynolds, conduct an Autopsy on The Stranger For All Mankind and go Freelance as we Lift Crazy Eights! Loads more of course, so do get stuck in!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Phones Sho</b></span><b style="font-family: georgia;">w Chat<br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Episode 786 - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">Getting Our Geek On: Fixing the iPhone and Surface Duo 2</a><br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Saturday 27th January<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Steve and I </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">clear out the store room this week, mopping up the lingering left-overs! It's Surface Duo, Nokia and pimping the Fairphone for me whilst Steve takes the Flipping Samsung Smart Switch challenge. Plenty more besides, so do join us for an hour.<br /></span><b style="font-family: georgia;"><br />Whatever Works<br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Episode 201 - <a href="https://whateverworks.works" target="_blank">Trimming the Pink</a>!<br /></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Monday 29th January<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aidan and I </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">are back with another roundup of Whatever Works for us and you, enveloped in a plethora of pesticulance and plankfire! Lots of goodies as we hear from a man who found a pair of gloves with 7 fingers and a woman who once ate the shell of a turtle before lunch! Pod is available in the usual places, so get stuck in and enjoy. Or you will be punished.<br /><br /></span></p><p><i style="font-family: georgia;"><u><b>The Podcasts<br /></b></u></i><i style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/podhubuk/index.html">PodHubUK</a> - <span id="docs-internal-guid-5ec6a1a9-7fff-1ade-d976-93198a3c4ca7"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/chat.html" target="_blank">Phones Show Chat</a></span></span> - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/index.html">The Phones Show</a> - <a href="http://whateverworks.works" target="_blank">Whatever Works</a> - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/music/index.html">Chewing Gum for the Ears</a> - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/projector/index.html">Projector Room</a> - <a href="https://techaddicts.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">Tech Addicts</a></i></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><i><u style="font-weight: bold;">The MeWe Community Groups</u> (follow the links to join up)</i></span><br /><span><i><a href="https://mewe.com/join/phones_show_chat">Phones Show Chat & The Phones Show</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/whatever_works">Whatever Works</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/chewing_gum_for_the_ears">Chewing Gum for the Ears</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/projector_room">Projector Room</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/psc_photos">PSC Photos</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/pscvideos" target="_blank">PSC Videos</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/psc_classifieds">PSC Classifieds</a> - <a href="https://mewe.com/join/techaddicts" target="_blank">Tech Addicts</a></i></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span><i><u>The Team</u></i></span></b><br /><span><i><a href="http://tedsalmon.com/">Ted Salmon</a> - <a href="https://stevelitchfield.com/">Steve Litchfield</a> - <a href="http://www.aidanbell.com/">Aidan Bell</a> - <a href="https://garethmyles.com/">Gareth Myles</a> - <a href="http://allangildea.com/">Allan Gildea</a></i></span></span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-10228313122996529222024-01-17T07:43:00.000-08:002024-01-17T07:43:08.781-08:00SoundCore by Anker Motion 100 Bluetooth Speaker<div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1MkAkr9uDDJYN3J6Kik8Dny2MUXR3so_M6ol5IGzYeaiF0Nd6vEkUSJXimqsbFyqxgOHYgbeRN2mF5_PRlPFr8u9WXQABalN32kDsjDNqFczxMUOrVc8ZscHAGleYo1UTnY8RgEgOqk1J6MA1pIpkZxvXnpExnPjj0oitQOe1uiIXdzdJrQJpUGG-Odu/s4080/PXL_20240117_153703851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1MkAkr9uDDJYN3J6Kik8Dny2MUXR3so_M6ol5IGzYeaiF0Nd6vEkUSJXimqsbFyqxgOHYgbeRN2mF5_PRlPFr8u9WXQABalN32kDsjDNqFczxMUOrVc8ZscHAGleYo1UTnY8RgEgOqk1J6MA1pIpkZxvXnpExnPjj0oitQOe1uiIXdzdJrQJpUGG-Odu/s320/PXL_20240117_153703851.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I got this free with my <a href="https://tedssalmagundi.blogspot.com/2024/01/soundcore-by-anker-aerofit-pro.html" target="_blank">SoundCore by Anker AeroFit Pro</a> earphones and the RRP should have been £59.99 (though I do see it even now reduced down from that, so do shop around if you’re in the market for a Bluetooth Speaker). As I was buying the earphones anyway, it would have been looking a gift-horse in the mouth not to have grabbed it, even if I already have 127 other options with speakers!<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a dinky little thing with a kind of soft-rubber. speckled-colour exterior, slippery to the touch but a material that feels solid and like it’ll take some knocks. It’s about eight inches wide, two and a bit from front to back and similar, high. So that it doesn’t slide all over the place, it has four rubber feet on the bottom. There’s also a small cloth carry-tag on the left, which is thumb-sized, or would easily to attach to a bag/case/cycle or whatever.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />On top there’s a series of slightly-raised buttons, left to right, on/off, Bluetooth, the stylised word SoundCore in the middle, then a circular-looking cluster with volume down/up (left/right), pause/play at the bottom and BassUp at the top. Again, it’s all nicely ‘rubbery’. On the back there’s a grille and on the right, a very tightly-fitting rubbery seal over a cavity which hosts the USB-C port.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDKzEjcHiQ9XYa2BooGLEaNZu1wLH6EPwUfGIAte0zn2fnMKzEmF9vsecZsS7qWequxpslQZdMCROiOeY4NgWOTc6GKPsvA8jqJ-IpGTUU7Mtr9ywu_vtx2Sa14-v5xcfJbGw9NP_vNa1PSxBP6GbkDT0UFcTK0p580Q4m-n2OyZByux6lMjYwQ4jkMsB/s4080/PXL_20240117_153809613.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDKzEjcHiQ9XYa2BooGLEaNZu1wLH6EPwUfGIAte0zn2fnMKzEmF9vsecZsS7qWequxpslQZdMCROiOeY4NgWOTc6GKPsvA8jqJ-IpGTUU7Mtr9ywu_vtx2Sa14-v5xcfJbGw9NP_vNa1PSxBP6GbkDT0UFcTK0p580Q4m-n2OyZByux6lMjYwQ4jkMsB/s320/PXL_20240117_153809613.MP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>On the front, the rubbery stuff makes way for an aluminium “ink splash design” grille which looks very classy, rugged - and SoundCore seems to be claiming to be “3D”. Perhaps we’ll come to that! There’s a giant SoundCore icon in the middle of it, of course! The unit is claimed to be IPX7, so water (but not dust/sand) proof, so can dunked in clean or salt water (but not orange juice!) 3ft deep for half an hour. There’s a grille on the back of the unit too, which seems to pump out the main part of the bass, should you take the challenge to test and put it to your ear!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The 2600mAh battery gives about 12 hours of playback, depending on settings, but based on about 50% volume and BassUp on. It seems about right in my (limited) tests here (not upsetting the neighbours)! It also doesn’t charge the battery very quickly - they claim 5 hours and that would seem to be about right. There’s a short USB-C to USB-C cable in the box, if needed. There’s no charge-out, by the way, to top up other devices from the internal battery.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINlhnKzHvRqJ8rSNMdfCfszFm1jiuXTMsKcOAGML94j-Xeylz695Dy9Ng3Qs_LYr3QV0XCZxIk6bNZqAKRQ5VJF2RX_5qavPrAK3XWDpg7p7PRZh2lCtgVi9hmtiOMKAQB28Jf3FNgANok9SLV9YXDlDpeZiqujqegxH6tPCW9yBhGQC1GcQivt8UIyOq/s4080/PXL_20240117_153733485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINlhnKzHvRqJ8rSNMdfCfszFm1jiuXTMsKcOAGML94j-Xeylz695Dy9Ng3Qs_LYr3QV0XCZxIk6bNZqAKRQ5VJF2RX_5qavPrAK3XWDpg7p7PRZh2lCtgVi9hmtiOMKAQB28Jf3FNgANok9SLV9YXDlDpeZiqujqegxH6tPCW9yBhGQC1GcQivt8UIyOq/s320/PXL_20240117_153733485.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Initially setting up the connection between my device and the speaker was a bit of a dead loss. I already had the SoundCore app installed on my device, it encouraged me to use it as it had detected the Motion 100 being turned on and in-range, then after much fiddling and failing, it offered to set up ‘manually’. On launching the app manually, it then reports that the app doesn’t support this model! So even though the app detected it and launched itself, it was a pointless gesture! Anyway, doing it the old-fashioned(!) way via the device’s Bluetooth settings worked and we’re set up and rolling.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />I have now discovered that the app should indeed work with this model, so I started again from scratch, turned off, uninstalled the SoundCore app, reinstalled it, then found it and reported that the app does support it. What a fiddle, though! Got there in the end. (Bring back the 3.5mm audio cable, eh - plug in, done!) We can now see that there are a number of pre-sets and a custom one, where the user can play with 9 sliders to get the sound they want. All this, plus the BassUp button, does indeed produce a marked difference. In fact, so much so that with some files, it will end up distorted. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">If your device has its own onboard Dolby (or whatever) equalisers and sound profiles to use, you can, of course, not install their app and just use what you have.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xh82sWN7dz7RXURIYKCrdBDY_3ubptsVINC2dTLmZFhUyX_N2FxJ3Gv0tRbAbw_A_WUWy3BBZWwI-Na4d1A2s3ePr7pXaGXJ4nNdMZXaZp4cGGXp-4DVk0sTwpt9FHghFuoWm7193f6gpXYasewj5qOImjhnLjH-8MaRYP0Xz2YzN1xBB-PFvTx2cmv_/s4080/PXL_20240117_153820112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xh82sWN7dz7RXURIYKCrdBDY_3ubptsVINC2dTLmZFhUyX_N2FxJ3Gv0tRbAbw_A_WUWy3BBZWwI-Na4d1A2s3ePr7pXaGXJ4nNdMZXaZp4cGGXp-4DVk0sTwpt9FHghFuoWm7193f6gpXYasewj5qOImjhnLjH-8MaRYP0Xz2YzN1xBB-PFvTx2cmv_/s320/PXL_20240117_153820112.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Anyway, to the sound - and the first test proved that the speaker with its 20W output (or is it 40?) is capable of silly-loud volume and with equalisation in place, BassUp engaged, it’s more than capable of providing sound in a disproportionately large area, beach/BBQ or whatever. It’s more than a match for my Marshall Willen, more bass, more volume. But to be fair, the Willen is rated at 10W output, so perhaps that’s not a fair test. I shall move up to the Stockwell II, with one 10W (woofer) plus 2 x 5W (tweeters). 20W all-round? We shall see.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><i>Before we get there. Just a note on the output power - as the specifications for the unit seem to suggest that it’s a 20W speaker, but diagrams on SoundCore’s website also suggest very strongly that each of the two forward-facing speakers are rated 20W, so making 40W? “Dual 20W full range drivers deliver dynamic stereo sound” it claims. So is it 20W total, or 20W x 2 - 40W total? As we shall see now, I could believe from the output that it’s actually the latter. I now read elsewhere that actually there’s also 2 x 15W drivers inside and 2 x bass radiators inside. Surely there must be some reliable information about this unit somewhere, SoundCore? Anker?</i><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdDE5zhPGx-MT0IUVOSYT3d6Z3r2gyDPV2eCVIgrMYF11x2GMwLLaZMEMvMQWzLzOT0p71IFmfZ9Bx7O1b-jf5wxiteJRHj3WycvyQHfVDDbygyPLZUFD5Acinfufk-Zwt9oP2GB717eaa_bfX6XLQhJWGJPJqU8SERv3mXrlHfBfblnSdYoc9BoFm1Nh/s2400/Screenshot_20240117-153516.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdDE5zhPGx-MT0IUVOSYT3d6Z3r2gyDPV2eCVIgrMYF11x2GMwLLaZMEMvMQWzLzOT0p71IFmfZ9Bx7O1b-jf5wxiteJRHj3WycvyQHfVDDbygyPLZUFD5Acinfufk-Zwt9oP2GB717eaa_bfX6XLQhJWGJPJqU8SERv3mXrlHfBfblnSdYoc9BoFm1Nh/s320/Screenshot_20240117-153516.png" width="144" /></a></div>Amazingly, this little SoundCore speaker keeps up with the Stockwell II for volume, but the Marshall is significantly ahead on the richness, quality and bass. It’s that ‘signature’ Marshall sound coming through, I guess - and the difference you get from a speaker costing four times as much. That’s taking nothing away from the Motion 100 though, as maybe that was a tough test. The truth is that even the smallest, cheapest Bluetooth speaker these days seems to knock spots off the speakers in any phone. How about a tablet, then? I often say how good the sound is from my Samsung Galaxy Tab S8’s 4 speakers, so here we go</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">...no - nowhere near, for volume or quality. The benchmark I have come to use to test how good any phone speakers these days - my tablet - which is always oodles ahead of any phone - nowhere near even this small, cheap Bluetooth speaker. So there!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />You’ll have gathered by now that I’m no audiophile! All my observations are based on using my ears to tell you what I hear - not professional sound-testing equipment. I guess you’ll get that if you want it on YouTube. I just turned the Motion 100 back on and away from the tablet’s speakers and can reiterate what a huge difference there is. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised really, when comparing what space there is for speaker hardware and sound to move - even in a big tablet, let alone a mobile phone!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6k3TZXelCIKftYw2y8GJFxp2OW62NTmJDwFdq3aKipuFvi-h9zYY_miDCSjexyslWDYkR6fKYPpWEb4d1CuIP-EvwryQWROct39x-JbQ0vgcotTu1Ej9OdRIX_YbhC0lybFBKoc-sPSqS7p1EvM4bU82ROsDL7uZALPSFatoJfGDuRehGN_KFxFTIFeTo/s2400/Screenshot_20240117-153622.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6k3TZXelCIKftYw2y8GJFxp2OW62NTmJDwFdq3aKipuFvi-h9zYY_miDCSjexyslWDYkR6fKYPpWEb4d1CuIP-EvwryQWROct39x-JbQ0vgcotTu1Ej9OdRIX_YbhC0lybFBKoc-sPSqS7p1EvM4bU82ROsDL7uZALPSFatoJfGDuRehGN_KFxFTIFeTo/s320/Screenshot_20240117-153622.png" width="144" /></a></div>You have to be pretty close to the Motion 100 to get the stereo effect with any reasonable detection rate. I have been testing it in front of my face with some music which exploits the stereo effect hugely and 18” in front of my face, I can barely detect it being stereo, 12” and yes, it’s there - 3” in front of my nose and it’s significant and clearly working very well. So not much of a soundstage then really unless you strap it to your head! Bear in mind that my ears and hearing apparatus are all-but 61 years old, so a younger person’s perception could well be keener. Anyway, I don’t really think this unit needs to be stereo, but there it is.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />Bluetooth 5.3 is here and TWS present, two bluetooth compliant devices pairable together and users can send left/right stereo channels to each and separate them. I have tried this using the Motion 100 but don’t have another one to test with. I do have other SoundCore speakers which are TWS compliant but try as I have done, I can’t get the two to channel the stereo one for each. Information about this is quite hard to come by on the internet and SoundCore’s pamphlet in the box only covers the very basics of getting it working. I have had this working with my two Motion+ speakers. I have now tracked down a statement in their website help pages that suggests very strongly that this only works with two Motion 100 units, none other in the mix.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZjvMNoP-JusQ5OCPOZAy-55tQwe9Hl2mWqFVix-YbitaJB5caUrNDavKSla-V5z6wRAusLroOCOH5NTC9q6nhBhx-TfM2_UnGKSGoOUIBr_fGd7Infm6TAl_f-cc3Fh_lLTEFNx6oDxDC3uUyLwHf0cOw-Li2LuBpkoDveg0FyNBSEoUyH9rCoJQW5UB/s2400/Screenshot_20240117-153608.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZjvMNoP-JusQ5OCPOZAy-55tQwe9Hl2mWqFVix-YbitaJB5caUrNDavKSla-V5z6wRAusLroOCOH5NTC9q6nhBhx-TfM2_UnGKSGoOUIBr_fGd7Infm6TAl_f-cc3Fh_lLTEFNx6oDxDC3uUyLwHf0cOw-Li2LuBpkoDveg0FyNBSEoUyH9rCoJQW5UB/s320/Screenshot_20240117-153608.png" width="144" /></a></div>I’ve had more success pairing two different speakers (Multi-speaker) with a source device, seemingly working well in my testing with only a short delay when switching the devices to sort themselves out from one to the other and back.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />LDAC is available to be used via the app on supporting Android hardware, but not iOS. This does seem to make a difference to the overall quality of the sound, but my ears don’t consider it critical to the process!<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The controls are fairly straight forward, though need a very firm press to operate through that thick rubbery stuff. Play/Pause, volume and BassUp in that cluster I mentioned do just those things and you press the pause/play button twice for track forward, thrice for back. There’s not any Smart Assistant or microphone but the speaker goes quiet when the user is engaging the Assistant on the paired phone. Similarly, there are no phone controls, except that when the user, again, is engaged in making/receiving phone calls on the phone - it goes quiet if it had been playing. This is in contradiction to what it says in the pamphlet that comes with it, where it clearly shows that there is telephone call (and Assistant) support with various button presses. No wonder people get confused!<br /><br />I have probably been guilty here of going into far too much depth for what is really a cheap-as-chips Bluetooth speaker, but perhaps that reflects the terrific value it is for about fifty quid if one forgets about the missing higher-end features and focuses on the sound. It punches way above its weight in this respect and it really is a cracking device, with a very good battery and even some water-proofing. And so I recommend it. If I hadn't got it for free with my earphones and know what I know now, I would certainly buy it (if I didn't have a houseful of BT speakers already)!</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-73325007468054652562024-01-15T14:00:00.000-08:002024-01-15T14:00:54.524-08:00Autopsy (2008)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRdKBZ3G5DNJk31YXwyy2gtB3W5Hl_wrN8SolBvMvfdqj7lAYlVCG8F2Rr8DJzJzPMJsGMAPHLFW2EnMyBqAsk0FfNopJOh8a8qJCBAJij1hf7ncRpGOVZrL2CtsZeiGaT0xlgR9MnpvpllELwsiU4hifuWVILlu7SOFWI1MEUsLfWvK-gHSzQR8VIMSE/s1030/Screenshot%202024-01-15%20215957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="809" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRdKBZ3G5DNJk31YXwyy2gtB3W5Hl_wrN8SolBvMvfdqj7lAYlVCG8F2Rr8DJzJzPMJsGMAPHLFW2EnMyBqAsk0FfNopJOh8a8qJCBAJij1hf7ncRpGOVZrL2CtsZeiGaT0xlgR9MnpvpllELwsiU4hifuWVILlu7SOFWI1MEUsLfWvK-gHSzQR8VIMSE/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-15%20215957.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>The Mad Scientist cliche is back and in good form with a side-splitting gore-fest, wrapped up in a thriller/chiller/horror from writer/director Adam Gierasch. It’s complete bonkers of course and clearly is not taking itself seriously as everyone involved sticks the knife in!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Robert Patrick (Dr Benway) as the doctor-in-charge of the chaos, side-kick nurse Jenette Goldstein (Nurse Marian), their two ‘attendants’ Robert LaSardo (Scott) and Michael Bowen (Travis) play about with the material gleefully. They’re running an operation out of an (as we find out later) closed-down hospital. That’s not really a spoiler as it’s obvious from the start that it’s not a proper hospital.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The storyline starts as we follow a bunch of university drop-outs having fun with life and not taking it too seriously. They are in a car and the car crashes. In fact, it drives into a bloke who, we later find out, was trying to escape from the make-shift medical building, Mercy Hospital.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s no cellphone coverage, of course, and a private-looking ambulance happens along to pick up the bloke who has been run over - and in the process encourage the teens to tag along and get checked out after their crash. They go, partly because they now have no car and it’s a way out of the tricky rural situation.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The ambulance then takes them all to Mercy Hospital and we start to find out piece-by-piece what’s going on there, who is madder than who, why the fruit-loop staff are so keen to make pate out of everyone and begin the cat-and-mouse game wondering who, if any of them, will survive - and how much blood, guts, organs and gore there can possibly be along the way! There is a logical reason for it all in the end. Just a mad one!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">90210 Actress and singer Jessica Lowndes (Emily) is clearly the star of the show and lead of the group. She gets by far the most of the on-screen time and the story, pretty much centred around her and her path through the mayhem. The rest of the cast do a decent enough job, but I surprised we didn’t catch any of them at least grinning about their jobs on camera somewhere!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The film has been shot in a very colourful palette with bright, rich and saturated hues to make the most of the (particularly) red gore - but also brightly coloured fluids in pipes, which form a part of the plot. Travis and Scott are having specially good fun in all this, as they execute the back-room requirements of the scheme, directed by the doctor/nurse duo. And there some pretty inventive set-ups in operating theatres and treatment rooms, which take some working out. Travis, particularly, is a sadistic, heartless, torturing loonie of a character - once again, I’m guilty of finding the horror/gore stuff funny when I shouldn’t!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">So in the end, we have Emily fighting everyone, against the odds, even though she’s kind of given up on anyone making it out alive apart from her. And maybe not even her! Anyway, there it is. As I say, complete bonkers, but rip-roaring fun and (for me at least) a wildly comic turn by all!</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-63848015048957193192024-01-13T03:40:00.000-08:002024-01-13T03:40:26.515-08:00Crazy Eights (2006)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY76myZNV2yGQi7r2Ydb5cmgcNAaroQO5F7-KSAbMthW9QZdyw_MKTQ6aqTlE_XsSxEOMGf5fc6Gty4Hs5HE1K7naUFb3A7rVlsfmxgJpknWhkddVTlPLfG1epBDdBmnVfAsibQu7JXXIJG28-ZbfoIqw76-8Lq53dPePxSl4nncvM1ISw0V4FNceXGTOH/s646/Screenshot%202024-01-13%20113951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="437" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY76myZNV2yGQi7r2Ydb5cmgcNAaroQO5F7-KSAbMthW9QZdyw_MKTQ6aqTlE_XsSxEOMGf5fc6Gty4Hs5HE1K7naUFb3A7rVlsfmxgJpknWhkddVTlPLfG1epBDdBmnVfAsibQu7JXXIJG28-ZbfoIqw76-8Lq53dPePxSl4nncvM1ISw0V4FNceXGTOH/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-13%20113951.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>That was a bit lame, I thought, and a flop. A nice idea - the dead girl from beyond the grave getting all the ‘guilty’ friends to go back to the place where she’d died and then pick them off one by one - but it just didn’t carry for me.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The acting was lousy throughout, the audio soundtrack was poor (by design I think - rather like a Blair Witch thing), the script was worse, the handheld camera throughout was annoying and the ending abrupt and a complete anti-climax.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I guess it was pretty low budget - too low in fact to actually show any gore or even attacks! I’m OK with attacks on people not being shown if suspense and suggestion replaces it, injecting fear into the viewer, but here it doesn’t. It was lazy/cheap and only relies on a quick glimpse of a shadowy figure behind each victim, then edit/cut-away!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As I say, it had the makings of a really good horror/thriller as a notion, but it’s like the people making it got fed up halfway through, didn’t have enough money to make it good, so just threw in the towel.</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7252031201099721437.post-44508416145127672982024-01-12T13:53:00.000-08:002024-01-12T13:53:17.948-08:00Mulberry St (2006)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjLV2JRRFKCZSGZGUKlTNiz1d_ZLrFlEh7zx_A2gHA5tFakXht4D8xxTp-xlOMehJIrp9o-g-FksnO3hvmw7pFrJbElqKaklGBAKfRr_FzYUY2wOmrevItbsxQeqYntE80QnFW2tOnasdDxKyWzmC4-htrQFRhH9zt-gQv-QZRKh3cmGBgDRCRwre-1NS/s629/Screenshot%202024-01-12%20215238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="426" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjLV2JRRFKCZSGZGUKlTNiz1d_ZLrFlEh7zx_A2gHA5tFakXht4D8xxTp-xlOMehJIrp9o-g-FksnO3hvmw7pFrJbElqKaklGBAKfRr_FzYUY2wOmrevItbsxQeqYntE80QnFW2tOnasdDxKyWzmC4-htrQFRhH9zt-gQv-QZRKh3cmGBgDRCRwre-1NS/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-12%20215238.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>A splendid-looking little indie horror/thriller/survival film about people in Manhattan being turned into (large, human-shaped) rats when they had been bitten by either an infected rat or a person who had been bitten! The infection’s source is never explained, nor did it need to be really - it just turned up in rats one day!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There was lots of handheld camera work throughout, which was a bit annoying, but the unknown-to-me leads played it pretty well, even injecting a little comedy here and there, and there was some money been thrown at gory special effects.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There was suspense at times and anxiety levels rose as we rooted for the ‘uninfected’ making it through, surviving the onslaught and killing anything that wasn’t. It’s kind of Zombie stuff without the dead coming back to life. Just turning into rats. Big ones! They start to take on the physical characteristics of rats as they devour any meat/flesh that they can find - and kill to create it if there’s none!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The pacing was good, just the right amount of time getting to know our main characters before the chaos, the plotline was off-the-wall bonkers of course, but great fun, dark and grizzly throughout. Clearly the team making this were having great fun, led by writer/director Jim Mickle. Super stuff!</span></div>Ted's Salmagundihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09099727265853087970noreply@blogger.com0